


Pythia

by janaimobar



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - MAMA (Music Video), M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2018-08-11 16:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7899901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janaimobar/pseuds/janaimobar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"We live in a world in which anything is possible. How dare they try to contain us?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Academy

 

 

 

**Quick A/N:**

Hello hello! If you are here from my story[ Locked](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7845913/chapters/17913919) then welcome, welcome, you already know the deal. 

If not and you're new, then hi! I was searching through old documents and found this half-started story, and I really liked the plotline, so after publishing [Locked](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7845913/chapters/17913919), I decided to bring it back. This is OT12 in a highschool mama!au, because I just love Mama!aus so much. 

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading :)

 

-

 

**1997, Haidan District, Beijing**

 

The autumn air was ridiculously warm.  

Pulling at his collar to soothe the sweltering heat, Minseok walked the path from the school steps with haste. All he wanted was to get to some cool relief, but the ten-minute walk to his new house was looking more like a torturous trek. The heat was a blanket. It simmered sultrily against his skin and clouded his vision; so real it had become seemingly visible.

In the midst of daydreaming, someone pushed him.

Minseok would later wail that fate was cruel to him, and even later he would muse about how lucky he was that fate was so kind. Just as he rounded the corner to pass in front of the school’s one fountain, fate would have it that someone pushed him- intentionally or not he would never know- right into the water.

He had been daydreaming. Perhaps because of the extreme heat, perhaps because he had just started third grade in a new city, perhaps because a lot had been going on at home and he was exhausted with constantly moving, or perhaps because he still wasn’t used to China, but no matter the reason he’d been somewhere else.

Whatever the case, Minseok had no time to react, and he landed in the fountain, bum first, and made a ridiculously dramatic splash.

His face flamed hot, not even noticing the soothing cold of the water. Old and young around him had stopped, mouths opening in unified ‘O’s. There were a few light giggles. Someone shifted in the crowd, a blonde head bobbing ahead to catch a glimpse of the spectacle. Minseok could not breathe for a moment, his small fingers curling beneath his knuckles and scraping against the fountain bottom. Then he stood, water dripping from his soaked school uniform, and he ran.

The blondie found him in a pile of crisp september leaves beneath an oak tree not more than five minutes later. To Minseok it had felt like an eternity, an eternity which he had spent crying, and he barely registered the presence of another in the midst of his wails.

“Oh, don’t be dramatic,” came a childish, surprisingly sweet voice. Minseok looked up in bewilderment, his sobbing halting momentarily as his eyes came to rest on the elfin face. At the time he had no idea that this face would completely reset the course of his life.

Crunching a plethora of leaves, the other boy sat down, his eyes amused. “It’s not like the world has ended.” He paused, head tilting. “May I sit with you?”

For a moment Minseok could only stare back in surprise, hiccuping down swallowed tears. But then as it became apparent the other boy was waiting for him to answer, he straightened, wiping the tears away with two furious swipes. “Yes,” he said, voice coming out smaller than he would’ve liked.

The other boy nodded approvingly, his delicate features forming a smile. “That was so funny. But doesn’t it feel nice?” He gave the wet clothes an envious glance.

Minseok shook his head, hiding into the small of his hands.

The boy’s smile widened further. “Oh, stop. Here, I can make you feel better.”

Minseok squinted in confusion. “How?” he asked dubiously. And then, without really meaning to, his mouth formed another question- “What do you mean?” and suddenly he was very much intrigued.

The boy laughed, a sound that would become honeyed and familiar to Minseok. “It means I can help you. And,” he repeated knowingly, “You’ll feel much better.”

“You can dry my clothes?” Minseok gasped hopefully. And then, almost like an afterthought he added, “What’s your name?”

“Oh, no,” the boy grinned. “What I do is much better. Here, I’ll show you.” His bangs fell across his face as his eyes closed, his smile settling into a neutral line. He reached out and took each of Minseok’s hands in his own, and whispered, “Close your eyes.” Minseok obeyed wonderingly.

For a moment there was nothing save the rustling of fall leaves and the lazy heat. But then, curiously so, he slowly he felt his embarrassment begin to fade, as if nullified in a relaxing wave of calm that swept across his thoughts. He sat peacefully for a moment, bathing in the airy serene. Then, a little grainy, though still quite understandable, _words_ bloomed beneath his eyelids. Minseok’s mouth opened in awe. They came _inside_ _his mind_ with one hot warm flash of endearment-

_( My name is Luhan. )_

 

**-**

 

**Thirteen years later, Seoul**

 

“Junmyeon?”

Junmyeon stopped making the bed and glanced up with wide-eyed surprise, his face quickly settling into a pre-conditioned smile. “Hi Jongin. Have you finished setting up your room yet?”

“No,” Jongin answered him tiredly. “I’m sure Mr. Do Kyungsoo has learned how to make his own bed in his eighteen years.”

“Jongin,” Junmyeon warned sharply.

Jongin rolled his eyes. “I'll do it. I just came to ask if you could help with my tie.”

Junmyeon sighed, but his eyes softened with humour. “The Great and Powerful Teleporter Can’t Tie a Tie. Imagine that as a headline. Kim Youngmin would be thrilled.” All the same, he stepped forward to fix Jongin’s knot over his wine-red school blazer, carefully smoothing the creases with Junmyeon-level precision. “Jongin, you know it’s not set in stone that you’ll end up with Kyungsoo. Try to be a little more open-minded tonight, won’t you?”

“I’ll be as open-minded as I can be while being threatened by one of the richest men in Korea and the principals of both Academies,” Jongin answered dryly.

“It was a _threat_ ,” Junmyeon reminded him. “That’s all, Jongin. A threat.”

“His father will cut our funding,” Jongin said quietly. “It doesn’t matter if it’s only a threat. No one here can afford cuts to our funding.”

Junmyeon said nothing for a moment, instead fussing with Jongin’s collar. “Go finish setting up your room,” he finally said once there was nothing left to fuss with. “No matter which student you end up with, we want all the dorms to look as presentable as possible.” Jongin nodded silently and turned to leave.

“Jongin,” Junmyeon added before he could step out.

“Yes?”

“Run a comb through your hair. You look like you have roadkill on top of your head.”

 

-

 

Tao knocked on Luhan’s door with his good hand, taking note of the ‘Welcome!’ spelt out with construction paper letters that he had taped on. “Luhan?”

“Come in,” came a muffled voice, and Tao pushed the door inwards. He stepped in and then paused, staring unimpressed around the room.

“Really? You’re nuts.”

“I want them to feel welcome!” Luhan defended himself, and then sheepishly got down from where he was hanging faerie lights to the windows. Tao glanced around the rest of the room, taking in the fresh flowers on the tables, the chocolates on the pillows and the art hung on the walls.

“You want _Minseok_ to feel welcome,” he corrected Luhan. He looked lazily around the heavily decorated room once more before glancing back at the Telepathic. “What if you two don’t get paired together?”

“He’s my best friend,” Luhan said calmly. “We will get paired together.”

“You haven’t seen him in three years,” Tao pointed out matter-of-factly. “How can you be sure?”

“We’ve been sending letters,” Luhan answered determinedly, and reached for a pillow to fluff it up a bit more.

Tao rolled his eyes. “Whatever. They want us down in the dining room in ten minutes. So hurry up.” With that he turned on his heel, closing the door with a snap behind him.

 

-

 

Jongdae stood in the dining room with the five other boys, all of them standing in a stick-straight line, hands clasped behind their backs. He was listening absentmindedly as Mr. Kim explained how the principal of their sister school, KAE (the Korean Academy of Excellence) had been unable to make it to this very important evening, but they were expected to behave anyway.

_Blah, blah, blah_. Jongdae’s nose was itchy, which was all he could really think about, but he wasn’t allowed to move during the principal’s speech. Supervisors lined the walls around the room, ready to spring into action if he did one thing wrong.

“As you know, this is one of the most esteemed programs in Korea…” Mr. Kim droned on. “Our students possess powers that once could only be emulated in fiction…”

_That’s right,_ Jongdae thought, bored out of his mind. Dully he wondered what would happen if he just decided to harness his power right now. He could feel it simmering excitedly within him, hovering contentedly in the capsule of his body, waiting for him to coax it out, spreading from his chest down his arms and legs, settling into his fingertips so he could push it outwards, expelling bright bolts of electricity that would travel through the walls, blowing the circuits in the lights-

But that wasn’t an option right now. Unauthorized use of his power would result in detainment in solitary for at least a week. Probably longer, considering this was literally the most important night for the Academy all year.

“In this time of war, our unique program allows our students to exploit their powers for the greater good,” Mr. Kim was saying.

_Right,_ Jongdae thought with a snort. Sure, the greater good, if you considered working for rich assholes the remainder of their lives the ‘greater good’. This was just a fancy way of saying that the students were training to become really intense bodyguards.

“In the Academy, these powerful individuals are able to train to become Guarders,” Mr. Kim said from the stage. “As Guarders, they will be partnered with students of our sister school, KAE, and master the art of protection.”

_Protection,_ Jongdae mused. He thought again of the simmering energy within him, and wondered how anyone could ever think such a power was protection. What Mr. Kim really meant to say was that the Guarders would learn to destroy anything that threatened their charge.

“Tonight, we have six esteemed students of KAE with us,” Mr. Kim boomed. “They have been hand-selected, with the highest grades, the most impressive records, and the most promising futures-”

_And the richest families,_ Jongdae thought with a sigh.

“-and will make their introductions with our six Guarders. Tonight is the night twelve students will embark on their journey, learning to trust, train, and protect. Boys, let us welcome the students of KAE!”

 

-

 

 

Kyungsoo’s father told him often not to be afraid of anything. After all, he hadn’t become a billionaire by being scared. Fearlessness was vital. Kyungsoo had it to thank for the Rolex on his wrist and the Corvette in his garage, and not a day went by when his father hadn’t reiterated this fact in one way or another.

But God, was it a sin to be nervous?

Baekhyun was bouncing at his side, his own nervousness showing its true face in an unfortunate display of energy.

“Hyung, I’m going to strangle you,” Kyungsoo said dryly when Baekhyun decided that figuring out how to braid Kyungsoo’s hair was essential in that exact moment. And to clarify, the braids definitely needed to be tested on Kyungsoo because-

“I can’t reach my own head,” Baekhyun whined. “Fine. Would you rather I massage you? Here-” he grinned, not waiting for Kyungsoo’s reply.

“Five more minutes,” Kyungsoo sighed under his breath, closing his eyes in silent prayer. “Five minutes and the Guarders will be here and I can ditch this idiot for forever five more minutes-” God, his nerves needed to just stop. All he was doing was meeting a possible partner, six absurdly powerful students, walking into a room of basically celebrities, and this was only one of the most important relationships he would ever forge-

“May I have everyone’s attention please,” came a microphone voice. Kyungsoo straightened up, shaking off Baekhyun’s hands with a firm grunt. Finally.

Ten minutes later they had entered a dining room filled with people, most milling about the beverage bar save the few official-looking teachers in their suits by the doors. They made awkward small-talk among one another, but it was pretty obvious that their eyes exclusively on the students.

Unsurprising. This was, as usual, one of the biggest events of the year for KAE, despite its demure appearance. After all, Guarders were potentially for life.

Baekhyun was in amongst the Guarders in no time, his laugh echoing loudly from between a group of three red-jacketed boys. Typical. The little playboy.

Instead of joining the bigger part of the crowd at the drinks, Kyungsoo opted to find someone alone. He figured it would look like he was making an effort without actually having to interact with anyone.

There was one red blazer at the table in the corner, a shock of white hair covering the face buried between his arms. Kyungsoo promptly walked over, going for a friendly smile.

“Hello,” he said politely to the boy’s arms.

“Hmm?” the Guarder muttered, and then raised his head sleepily. His hair fell about his eyes, and he looked, Kyungsoo decided, like one hot mess. “Oh. Hey.”

For a moment Kyungsoo wasn’t sure how to respond. This was a formal event, but the boy hardly looked more official than a Vegas wedding. He was practically asleep.

“Um,” Kyungsoo said, watching as the boy proceeded to ruffle his hair and then rest his face against the table so he could watch Kyungsoo out of the corner of his eye without actually raising his head. “I’m Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo.” He held out a hand, although handshakes seemed foolishly proper in comparison to the other’s behaviour.

He was mildly surprised when the boy actually shot upright and took his hand, his demeanour changing so quick it was like he hadn’t been tired at all. “Oh! Do Kyungsoo. Yes, I’ve been...spoken to…by your father.” He gave a rather forced smile. “I’m Kim Jongin.”

Kyungsoo frowned. “I’m sorry, my...father?”

“Yes,” sighed Jongin, his forced smile dropping into its actual bleak expression. “Most people don’t- I mean-” He gave a frustrated sigh, fixing himself into a proper sitting position before starting again. “I’m Kai. The Teleporter.” Saying these words his face grew even more austere.

“Oh!” Kyungsoo exclaimed with the same sudden recognition Jongin had greeted him with mere seconds ago. “Oh.”

So this was him. Kyungsoo’s father, in a natural display of power, had mentioned to KAE in that sly way of his that he wanted the Teleporter for his son’s Guard and no one else. Oh, and if that request wasn’t met he would withdraw his son from KAE, along with the generous donations that came each year. The school administrators had stiffly told him they didn’t make promises, but here the Teleporter was with Kyungsoo’s name familiar to his mouth, so clearly his fathers’s wish had been granted. Kyungsoo hadn’t expected to meet him this quickly. In real life, Kai looked...younger.

Jongin was giving him a slow once-over, his face maddeningly unreadable. “I would’ve, you know, made an effort,” he said after a second, waving to the crowd of people. “But. Well. I figured you’d find me eventually. And you did.” He laughed tiredly, and then pulled out a chair next to him. “Sorry. I didn’t recognize you- you don’t look anything like your father.” He eyed the Rolex on Kyungsoo’s wrist as he took the seat. “I guess I’m not making a great first impression.”

_No_ , Kyungsoo thought amusedly. _Not particularly._ “Let’s start over then,” he smiled placidly. “...Jongin?”

Jongin grinned sheepishly, smoothing down his blazer. “Yeah. My parents gave me a press name when my powers first came to light. Thus, Kai was born. Identity protection and that stuff. My real name’s Jongin.”

Kyungsoo couldn’t help but be curious. “Oh. Isn’t it weird for you? Like, everyone knows you as Kai. You’re... _the_ Kai.”

“I’ve learned to keep him separate,” Jongin answered, rubbing his hands together. “Kai is battle ready. Press ready. Guarder ready. Jongin is…” he shrugged. “Jongin.”

They lapsed into a bout of silence. “What did my father say to you, exactly?” Kyungsoo ventured after a minute.

Jongin shifted uncomfortably. “That his son went to KAE, requested a Guarder, and that I would fit the profile.” He frowned slightly, and then continued, “He was extremely nice. Weirdly so, considering he was basically telling me that I was being forced to work for his family.” He paused, and then muttered under his breath, “You know, I never really said it out loud before. It sounds worse now that I did.” He shot Kyungsoo a curious glance.

Kyungsoo laughed. “Yes well, my father has a way of doing that. He’s an unfortunately talented manipulator.” He turned at the sudden loud voice of Baekhyun and saw that he had cornered one particularly tall red blazer. The Guarder didn’t seem to mind however, and even chuckled when Baekhyun reached his hands up to ruffle his hair.

“Chanyeol,” Jongin said unnecessarily, motioning to the tall Guarder.

“Ah,” Kyungsoo nodded. “Yes. Well, after three days with that little brat he’s going to wish they’d never met.” He smiled fondly, just in case Jongin thought he really meant it. The two fell quiet once more, and Kyungsoo took the time to see who else had begun to pair up. Minseok was standing with who he assumed was his childhood friend Luhan, the Telepathic he had been talking non-stop about for the past week, the two in soft conversation. Sehun had positioned himself next to a blonde boy with his hands stuffed in his pockets. They had equally judging looks on their faces. Even Kris had seemed to separate off with a red blazer that Kyungsoo was able to identify as Suho, one of the more known students. And perhaps most surprisingly, shy Yixing was already in deep conversation with a tiny Guarder with wide glasses. Interesting. He really hadn’t thought it would go this well.

“This worked out well,” Jongin noted beside him, echoing his thoughts. “Awe, Luhan,” he added flatly when Minseok was pulled into a bear hug by his Telepathic friend.

For the rest of the evening, no formal introductions were made, but Kyungsoo still managed to meet the other five Guarders when they began to mingle a bit more openly. The original partners broke apart to talk to their respective school friends, but they always seemed to come back together. As for Kyungsoo, he didn’t leave Jongin’s side. The Teleporter seemed quite content to just sit in the corner and let others come to them, which they did. Kyungsoo quickly realized that he was strangely magnetic, not just because of his famous powers, but his quiet confidence and flashing eyes. The others were drawn to him.

“So,” was the first word Baekhyun said when he made his way over, the last of everyone to come and chat. Chanyeol was still at his side, and shot Jongin a fervent smile. In turn, Jongin indulged him with a sarcastic grin and then buried his head back in his hands. “How are you two doing?” Baekhyun continued, and looped an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

“Um,” Kyungsoo offered, and glanced at Jongin’s bored expression. “Well, it’s been two hours. So as well as we could be doing.”

“Two hours?” Baekhyun gasped, his shock a little too overdone to be real. He glanced back at Chanyeol with a sweet loopy grin. “It feels like time doesn’t even pass when I’m with you.”

Kyungsoo made a barfing sound at the back of his throat and Jongin laughed. Once the two had wandered off Kyungsoo glanced hesitantly at his Guard. They had barely spoken all evening, and he scrambled for something else to ask him. “Do you mind… telling me the others’ powers?” he finally managed. Awkward as he was, Jongin nodded with a small smile.

“Yeah, of course.” He straightened, and glanced around the room. “Well, the one with your little friend, Chanyeol, he’s the Agnikinetic.”

Kyungsoo looked at him blankly.

“Fire,” Jongin laughed. “But specifically fire. He creates flames exclusively.” He paused, and then added, “Like a barbecue.”

Kyungsoo gave a snort and Jongin smiled wryly before continuing. “The one over there,” he said, pointing towards the glasses-clad shorty with Yixing, “Is Jongdae. You might’ve heard of him as Chen. He’s Electrokinetic. So he’s pure energy. He acts like it too, literally, you won’t even be surprised that he shoots lighting bolts from his hands after talking to him for five minutes.”

“Do you all have press names?” Kyungsoo cut in, watching as Jongdae fixed Yixing’s blazer collar.

Jongin shrugged. “Just those of us who needed it. Like Junmyeon,” he said, and nodded towards Kris and Suho.

“Suho,” Kyungsoo provided lamely, and then jumped to add in, “Water?”

Jongin nodded, and then shifted his gaze to the left side of the room. “Luhan and Tao were both kept a secret intentionally,” he pointed, and then paused, biting his lip. “They’re both...different.”

“I know about Luhan,” Kyungsoo sighed, remembering how exhausting the past weeks had been with Minseok, who had been unable to stop talking about his coming reunion with the Telepathic. “So Tao?” he motioned towards the one red blazer they hadn’t mentioned yet, who was chatting idly with Yixing and Jongdae.

Jongin nodded. “See his hand?” he motioned, and Kyungsoo obliged, then gawked in surprise. Tao’s left hand, out of his pocket for what seemed like the first time that evening, was made of metal. Well, that was probably wrong- it was more like he was wearing a metal glove. It shone dully under the artificial lights, full of wires and joints and black paint.

“They need to keep him under control,” Jongin explained, sounding tired but at the same time a bit sad. “They’d do it to me, too, but they don’t know how.” He flexed his fingers. “And I’m better behaved.”

“What does he do?” Kyungsoo asked hesitantly.

“Chronokinesis,” Jongin mumbled, and then a bit stronger, “He manipulates Time.”

Kyungsoo gave him a look of awe. “What? You’re kidding! How have we never heard of this?”

“Intentional secret,” Jongin repeated, and Kyungsoo nodded slowly, dumbfounded. He hadn’t thought such a thing was possible. Surely his father would have requested Tao if he had known.

“What does the hand do?” he asked, trying to play his shock off.

Jongin shifted uncomfortably. “We all have different ways for activating our powers. For him, he’s unable to harness it without clasping his hands together.”

Kyungsoo raised his eyebrows.

“When he’s wearing that Cuff, it effectively stops him from doing just that. His bare hands can’t touch. And,” he gave another heavy sigh, “It’s impossible to remove without extremely specific equipment. So they make him wear it to prevent him from using his powers.”

“That’s so cruel,” Kyungsoo gasped, horrified. As he said it, Tao slipped both hands back into his pocket and turned, almost as if he had heard from across the room.

“Yes, well,” Jongin said indifferently, “He caused a lot of problems before they got him under control.”

Kyungsoo gave him another look and he backtracked. “I don’t think it’s right,” he amended quickly. “It’s an awful device. But Tao can be a…” he searched for a word before laughing lightly and settling with, “Rebel.”

“And you wouldn’t know what that’s like?” Kyungsoo asked him quietly. “You’re not a rebel?”

Jongin looked at him carefully. “None of us want that to happen to us,” he answered cautiously. “And I harness my power purely by thinking about it.” He glanced towards Tao again, the bulky shape of the Cuff visible in his pocket. “If they wanted to Cuff me, they would have to put something inside my brain. And I don’t want that. Not at all.”

Kyungsoo nodded again, unsure how to respond. They lapsed back into silence once more.

The evening ended a couple hours later, after Mr. Kim had given yet another speech, and the students filed back to their teachers, the blue blazers from KAE to one side of the room and the red blazers of the Academy to the other. Kyungsoo and the rest of the KAE students were moved to a temporary dorm. Their supervisors explained how the next day would be spent doing activities with the Guarders. After dinner, the pairings would be announced based on how the students interacted with one another during tonight’s introductions and tomorrow’s festivities. For now, they were to rest up so they could be on their best behaviour with the Guarders tomorrow.

After washing up, Kyungsoo settled into the uncomfortable dorm bed, exhausted. His father's strict voice whispered monotonously in his head, interspersed with thoughts of the Teleporter, his dark eyes, and his messy white hair.

.

 

**A/N: Hello! I hope this introduction into this AU wasn't too confusing. Hopefully any questions you have will be answered in future chapters. Anyways, thanks for reading :)**


	2. Paired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .

Sehun fiddled with his blazer collar, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. A large banquet table was spread out before him, twelve beautiful silver plates set daintily in front of the waiting students, still empty of food. The boys sat in an alternating pattern based on their school, so he had a Guarder on either side of him. It was painfully quiet.

Sehun took the time to steal glances at the two boys beside him. Tao was on his right, slumped over and cradling his metal hand in his lap. Although the Guarder sported a rather small frame, Sehun could not help but be mildly intimidated. Last night the drapes that had covered the wall-length windows had been pulled closed, but now they were open, letting in the soft sunlight that landed on Tao’s lap. The unpainted metal joints on his hand, which he had refused to explain to Sehun the night before, shone dully, flashing when he moved. As if he could sense Sehun’s eyes on him, Tao glanced up to meet them, giving him a small smile.

On his left, the Telepathic sat serenely, his pretty face blank with expression. In comparison to Tao, who was still hunched in the large dining room chairs, Luhan had exquisite posture, his delicate hands folded neatly into his lap. His eyes gazed past Kris, who sat across from him, and they were unblinking, his long lashes barely fluttering in the still air.

“So…” Junmyeon started in the silence, and everyone turned to look at him. He smiled forcedly. “Um. How…was your guy’s trip up here?”

“Good,” Kris answered him when no one else did.

Silence again.

“It was a little bumpy,” Baekhyun attempted, but had nothing further to say after that. The twelve boys stirred restlessly in their seats, avoiding eye contact with one another.

“I like your rings, Kris,” Tao said from beside Sehun after a full minute of quiet.

Kris glanced down at his left hand, which was decorated with expensive silver rings, not meeting Tao’s eyes. “Thanks,” he muttered coldly, “But you would never be able to wear them with that contraption.”

At least three people gasped.

“Where did you get them?” Tao asked calmly after a second, unfazed by Kris’s hostility.

“Somewhere you couldn’t afford,” Kris growled at him from across the table.

“Kris!” Sehun hissed in a shocked voice, glancing worriedly at Tao.

Kris had raised his chin to meet Tao’s eyes for the first time, and he was glaring. Tao stared back for a moment, but when Kris’s face would not soften, he gave up and turned his head away.

“Look, food’s here!” Baekhyun announced hurriedly, attempting to cover his friend’s behaviour, and the other eleven boys turned to the door with relief, where the servers had finally arrived with their brunch.

Once it had been set down on the tables, the boys began to distribute the food, hesitantly starting to converse among one another.

“Thank you,” Luhan said softly when Sehun offered him some hashbrowns. Their eyes met and he gave him a gentle smile.

“So…can you actually tell the future?” Sehun blurted out, feeling as if he had to say something in return, and Minseok giggled from where he sat on Luhan’s other side. Luhan smiled prettily again, his eyes amused, and he shook his head.

“Not exactly,” he answered him lightly.

“What can you do, then?” Yixing asked, tuning into the conversation.

Luhan laughed. “Mostly, I just have really strong feelings about things. I know when something is going to turn out bad, or good.”

“And he’s always right,” Kai, or Jongin, or whatever his name was added from across the table.

“That just sounds like strong intuition, not a superpower,” Baekhyun grinned, and suddenly everyone was listening as Luhan talked.

“Sometimes I can get more precise than that,” he answered Baekhyun mildly.

“How precise?” Sehun asked eagerly.

Luhan looked at him wryly. “Very.”

“But he does something else, too,” Minseok beamed from beside him. “C’mon, Lu, show them.”

Luhan glanced at one of the supervisors who were standing by the wall-windows, and when one of them nodded at him, he turned back to the other eleven students. “Okay,” he addressed all of them. “Close your eyes.”

The Guarders all immediately closed theirs, being used to this, and the other six students from KAE glanced at one another hesitantly before doing the same. Sehun could feel the air move as Luhan rustled beside him, lifting his hands from his lap. For a second there was only silence, and then…there wasn’t.

It was like a…a _blanket_ in his mind. That was the only way Sehun could describe it. It settled comfortingly over his conscious, enveloping him gently. Sehun thought that if it had a colour, it would be a rosy pink.

_( Hello. )_

All the students from KAE collectively gasped, except for Minseok, who giggled.

“What was that?” Kris demanded.

_( It’s Luhan. Hello. Welcome to the Academy, students of KAE. )_

He was _speaking_ to them, Sehun realized with awe. Inside their thoughts.

_( I hope you are all enjoying your brunch. We are so excited to have you here. )_

“How is this possible?” Sehun exclaimed with wonder.

 _( It just is. )_ Something like a laugh sounded inside his head. _( This is what I do. I know, it’s a little freaky. But not as freaky as Jongin. Just wait until he gets going- )_

“Stop!” Baekhyun shouted agitatedly, and then the connection cut out. Sehun opened his eyes, confused. “Sorry,” Baekhyun amended sheepishly, when he found everyone looking at him. “Its just- that was-” he winced.

“Some people are more sensitive to it then others,” Luhan told him softly.

“It does kind of hurt,” Yixing admitted, rubbing his temples, and Kyungsoo and Kris gave nods of assertion, both raising their hands to massage their foreheads.

“Even I’m still not used to that,” Chanyeol told Baekhyun comfortingly. “Don’t worry about it. He’s not offended.”

“I’m not,” Luhan agreed with a laugh. The conversation shifted, but Sehun continued to stare at Luhan, still totally awestruck, and wacthed as he reached forward to grab another waffle, his lithe fingers ending in perfectly manicured nails. As he sat back, he turned, caught Sehun staring, and smiled again. Sehun glanced away, reddening, and hurriedly engaged himself into conversation with Tao.

 

-

 

Lights dimmed, and the noise did along with it. Baekhyun sat sandwiched between his fellow KAE students in the darkened theatre, bookended by Tao and Luhan. The simple stage in front of them was dark, silent. Then, in the quiet, there was a sharp crackling sound, and suddenly a flame appeared in the middle of the stage. It started off tiny, only visible because of the dark, but then it began to grow. Within thirty seconds, it had gone from a small candle-like flame into a pulsing, fiery ball. Baekhyun watched in awe as Chanyeol’s face came into view, illuminated by the fire that was glowing between his palms.

He smiled as the students all gasped with delight, looking completely at ease. “We hope you enjoy our show,” he announced easily, and then aimed his arms towards the sky. The fiery ball of flames followed, shooting upwards before bursting like a balloon, coming down in a shower of orange sparks around Chanyeol. Baekhyun’s jaw dropped. It had done so many times since he had arrived. He stared at Chanyeol’s tall, loping figure as the Guarder began to move, flames tingling at the tips of his fingers. Music had begun to play from the theatre speakers, and Chanyeol’s flames reacted with them, glittering like diamonds in his hands. The Guarder began to confidently shoot the flames outwards, almost dancing with them as he created ornate patterns in the air. He looked, Baekhyun decided, simply beautiful. His easy smile never left his face even as the fire flared just millimetres from his skin. Baekhyun felt tingles as he watched, the warmth of the flames beginning to heat the room.

As the song came to an end, Chanyeol pulled his arms into himself and the fire stopped. It went dark, and then on the final beat of music, he whipped his arms open and huge, flowing flames shot out after them, reaching at least three feet past his body on either side. For a moment, he looked like a fire-winged angel. Baekhyun could not help but squeal with delight, immediately bursting into applause. The other students followed suite as Chanyeol took his exit and Jongdae mounted the stage.

The rest of the show was simply magical. The Guarders presented their powers with exquisite artfulness, crafting them into a performance. Jongdae’s lightning sent everyone’s hair standing on end, erupting powerfully from his small hands, travelling up and around the room, beyond the borders of the stage. Jongin appeared onstage with no context, and then proceeded to teleport so subtly, quickly and suddenly it seemed like he was dancing. Suho was last, creating water walls and hulking shapes before letting them crash to the ground, splashing over the students’ toes. For the finale, all four of them went on stage together, and electricity, water, and flames met as one while Jongin expertly weaved his way between them. As the water and fire met it created a smoky haze, Jongdae’s blue bolts looking like lightning crackling from huge thunderclouds of smoke.

When it was over everyone was on their feet, including Tao and Luhan.

“Why didn’t he perform?” Baekhyun heard Kris mutter to Sehun during the applause. He glanced over and saw Kris motioning towards Tao again, a disdained look on his face.

“He’s not allowed, it’s too dangerous,” Sehun whispered back to him. “Besides, Luhan didn’t perform either.”

“Yeah, but he already proved to us what he can do,” Kris shot back. “For all we know, Iron Man over there is just like us.”

“Stop picking on him, hyung,” Sehun answered him sharply, and turned away.

“What’d you guys think?” interrupted Chanyeol’s happy voice, and Baekhyun twisted, Sehun and Kris forgotten.

“That was amazing!” Baekhyun answered him, bubbling with excitement. The lights slowly began to come back on, and the four Guarders who had performed came down from the stage to greet the others.

"You really thought so?" Jongdae asked with a wide smile.

“Well,  don’t see how all that would be very practical in battle,” Yixing mused with a laugh.

“We’ll dazzle the enemies so much they’ll be unable to fight back,” Jongdae quipped back, and Yixing laughed again.

“I suppose that’s always an option.”

“You guys were fantastic,” Kyungsoo told them earnestly, and the four bustled in thanks.

“ _Many thanks to the performers_ ,” the loudspeakers announced in the midst of their talking. “ _All students may now proceed to the dining hall.”_

 

-

 

Dinner went slightly better than brunch, a little less awkward now that the ice had been broken. The KAE students engaged their respective Guarders into polite conversation; all of them pretty certain now of whom they would be paired with. Once they were finished eating, the tables were cleared and the students were instructed to line up on the stage.

The pairing was relatively lacklustre, considering it was the moment that everyone had been building up to. In fact, there really was no formal announcement, simply the handing out of room keys. Tao felt a rush of relief when he was called up with Sehun, and the two took their matching keys from the supervisors before stepping back into line. After everyone had been called, the students were invited to go find their rooms, the rest of the evening unscheduled. They had the entire weekend before formal classes started on Monday, so the students were told to get to know their roommates as well as possible during their free time.

“Your Guarders have their own things planned for you,” the principal said with a laugh, addressing the new KAE students. “Hopefully they will help you get to know the campus better, and may even take you into town.”

Sehun glanced over to his new Guarder and in return Tao shot him a mischievous grin. “I’ll take you somewhere fun, don’t worry about it.”

The students were then dismissed, two days of freedom ahead of them before the official semester was to start.

 

-

 

“So…this is us,” Jongin announced, and stopped at the third dorm room door.

Kyungsoo nodded, dragging two suitcases behind him.

“I didn’t really decorate,” Jongin told him as he unlocked the door. “I figured you might want to do that yourself.”  The two of them stepped into the room, Jongin reaching back to help Kyungsoo with his bags.

“Wow,” Kyungsoo said in appreciation. The room was rather huge, a modestly sized bed smoothed over with white sheets on either end. Almost the entirety of the back wall was just one giant window, floor-length soft blue curtains swinging across it, revealing the gorgeous view of the coutryside behind it. A white side table accompanied each bed, one already covered with pictures and knick-knacks, and the other totally empty. Over the course of his life, Kyungsoo had definitely stayed in rooms way fancier than this one, but in comparison to the uncomfortable temporary bed he’d slept in last night, the dorm seemed perfect.

“I didn’t know which bed you would want,” Jongin apologized, gesturing towards the covered side table. “We can switch if you want this one.”

“No, it’s fine,” Kyungsoo answered quickly. He pulled his suitcases to the left side of the room.

“There’s two closets,” Jongin explained, motioning to both sides of the room. “And two bathrooms. Except mine has a shower and yours has a bath. You can always use the shower if you need it though, I don’t mind.”

Kyungsoo laughed. “Okay, thanks.”

“Also, there’s a curtain that pulls across the middle of the room,” Jongin continued, and pointed to the gathered blue curtain next to the door they had come in through. “In case you ever want some privacy.”

Kyungsoo grinned ruefully. “Alright.” He turned to his luggage, and began to open the smaller of the two.

Jongin sat himself down on his bed, opposite of Kyungsoo. “So…” he started after a moment of quiet. “Do you…need any help?”

“I’m good for now,” Kyungsoo replied peacefully, and began to lift clothes from the suitcase onto his bed. Jongin sat silently for another minute, looking at him from across the room, and then abruptly got up.

“I’m going to get some hot chocolate from the cafeteria. Want anything?”

“Do they have tea?” Kyungsoo asked him, not looking up from his suitcase.

“Yeah. What kind do you want?”

“Do they have chai?”

“I think so.”

“That works.”

“Okay. Back soon.” There was the sound of footsteps on the hardwood floor and then the door clicked quietly shut behind him. Kyungsoo ruffled through his luggage a moment longer, and then gave a sigh, flopping resolutely down onto the bed. He was exhausted. He glanced over to Jongin’s side of the room, and after a moment of debating, got up.

 Padding over to Jongin’s bed table, he noted that there was a single poster on the wall, carefully pasted above the headboard. It featured three fluffy puppies, two brown and one white. Kyungsoo felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. On Jongin’s table, there was three framed pictures- one black-and-white one of a pretty young couple that Kyungsoo assumed was Jongin’s parents, and two others of the six Guarders, posing in front of Korean monuments. Along with the photos, the bed table housed a set of dog tags, a stick of lip balm, and a retainer. At this Kyungsoo couldn’t help but laugh aloud. The famous Kai, with a cobalt-blue retainer sitting on his bedside table.

“Something funny?” Jongin called, confused, and re-entered the room with a paper cup in each hand.

“No,” Kyungsoo amended quickly. “I like your puppy poster, though.”

Jongin blushed, fumbling as he handed Kyungsoo a cup. “I haven’t seen them for a while,” he mumbled, and took a sip of his hot chocolate.

“They’re yours?” Kyungsoo asked in surprise, eyebrows rising.

“Yeah,” Jongin answered him with a small smile. “But not really anymore, since I can’t take care of them. They live with my mom now.”

“Just your mom?” Kyungsoo asked him, and lifted the tea to his lips. “Thanks, by the way.”

“You’re welcome.” Jongin answered him, his voice suddenly flat. “And yeah, just her." He glanced up at the posters and then at Kyungsoo, lips pursed into a straight line. "My dad died in the war.”

Kyungsoo’s mouth parted. “Oh-I-I didn’t know...I’m so sorry," he faltered. 

“It’s not your fault,” Jongin smiled cheerlessly. “Don’t be sorry. I was a child. I barely remember him.”

Kyungsoo dropped his eyes, panicking slightly. This conversation had gone downhill very fast. Yet he couldn't stop his eyes from drifting back to the dog tags on Jongin’s table. 

“Yeah, they’re his,” Jongin told him, clearly noticing. There was silence for a moment, and the two boys sipped their drinks, not looking at one another. Then Jongin turned back to Kyungsoo, his eyes shadowed. “I know I only met your dad once- and it’s not like I have the right or anything, but- just know- you’re lucky. To have a dad still. Even if…if-”

“-If he’s a dick?” Kyungsoo supplied for him wryly, and Jongin glanced at him in surprise, unsure what to make of those words coming from his sweet, innocent lips.

“I guess,” Jongin answered, his face breaking out in a shy smile. “I mean, I would have worded it better, but-”

“I know,” Kyungsoo laughed. “But you’re right.”

Jongin laughed again, the awkward moment past, and then motioned to the mess of clothes on Kyungsoo’s bed. “Are you going to hang those up, or…?”

“Oh, right,” Kyungsoo exclaimed. “Yeah. I should probably do that.”

“I’ll help,” Jongin told him, and set down his hot chocolate before walking over to grab hangers from the closet. 

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo told him quietly as Jongin began to busy himself with the clothes hangers, humming as he did so.

“Don’t get used to it,” Jongin turned to him with a smile, his eyes twinkling with humour.

“It’s your job,” Kyungsoo pointed out, and Jongin waved him away with his hands.

“I’m your Guarder, not your maid. Trust me, if I was a maid, I’d be dressed way sexier than this.” He gave Kyungsoo a pointed look and then they both burst into laughter, and for a moment, everything was all right.

 

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed that- there's still a lot of set-up being done, I'm sorry, but hopefully in was enjoyable anyway lol. As always, thanks for reading! :)**


	3. Dangerous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys get to know each other.

**A/N: I'm really sorry this took so long. Also, I realize that sometimes I use their stage names or their real names; this is because I'm writing from different characters, and they all address each other differently. Sorry if it gets confusing.**

 

Junmyeon had set a later alarm the night before, just because he had wanted to give Kris some more time to wake up. Junmyeon himself was awake before it went off anyway. His body was so used to its sleeping schedule that at seven thirty a.m sharp he was up and moving, starting by making his bed.

Once finished he automatically began to dress, pulling on his perfectly tailored slacks, one of seven black pairs that he had for each day of the week. Next he chose a white button-down (he had two white, two black, two grey, and one blue, just to spice things up) and tucked it in neatly. He finished by throwing on a red-wine Academy sweater, embossed with an ‘A’ over his left breast. The next ten minutes he spent washing up, spending an embarrassingly long amount of time styling his hair until it looked perfectly tousled.

After all this there remained another ten minutes until the actual alarm was to go off and wake Kris, so Junmyeon simply sat down on his already-made bed, going over the days’ plans he had written down in his notepad. Breakfast would be attended to first, in the cafeteria. Then Kris needed to be shown around campus, maybe with Jongdae and Yixing, and for lunch Junmyeon thought he might take Kris to the local hot pot place. He believed the other Guarders had voiced similar plans, and perhaps they would end up all dining together- another bonding experience, if you will. The afternoon had been left blank on his notepad. The options to fill this space were numerous, left to Kris to decide.

For now, his roommate slept with his back to Junmyeon, bare shoulders moving as he breathed. The night before he had been characteristically quiet, almost moody as he calmly packed away his things and then requested that they sleep early. Barely any conversation had passed between them, and to Junmyeon this was just fine. As far as he was concerned, Kris seemed responsible, and that was enough. He could not imagine himself Guarding someone like Baekhyun, who sported insufferable amounts of energy and could not stop talking, or Sehun, who’s young age had already managed to show through his blasé attitude. There had been the minor issue with Tao at brunch, but Junmyeon figured Kris had simply been cranky from travelling. Maybe also intimidated.

When the alarm went off, Kris let out one breath before sitting up right away. He gave Junmyeon a nod without eye contact before standing, the sheets sliding off his bare torso in a smooth _whoosh,_ and moved to his bathroom.

Junmyeon waited for a moment, listening for the tap to start, and then stood to make Kris’s bed. There was just something so infuriating about unmade beds in the morning.

When they went down to the cafeteria, the news was as per usual playing on the television, showing updates on the ongoing war. Kris helped himself to the buffet before sitting down in front of the TV, shoveling food into his mouth as he watched the news with silent wide eyes. Junmyeon joined him a moment later, and then they watched the updates in silence together.

Junmyeon had watched the war play out on his television for as long as he could remember. In reality, the war had not started until he was four, after the first outbreaks of Pythia began to arise. But Junmyeon could not recall a time before his parents’ murmurs of frightened panic, before smooth-faced politicians spoke promises of sure cures that never worked, before the television bleeped out dry messages of protesting citizens and a government that responded with firepower. Today the news showed new incidents of the rabid. The headlines acted like it was something new, but cases of the Pythia gone rabid were played almost daily. Junmyeon had them practically memorized by now.

Although it was unsaid, the Guarders knew they were valuable assets in the war. The government’s worst nightmare was the public getting the idea that the Guarders could be used as a catalyst for coup, and training them as Guards for the children of the rich and high profile was just one way of keeping them under close watch.

Junmyeon was well aware that he and his peers were destined to eventually play a large role in the battles. But currently it seemed at a far-off distance. He was content to focus on his studies, and now, on Kris.

As they ate silently, others began to slowly trickle down from their dorms, helping themselves to the buffet and sitting scattered about the cafeteria. Just when Junmyeon and Kris finished up and began to head back upstairs, Sehun and Tao emerged as the last ones awake, incessantly talking; not yet fully dressed in their school uniforms. Junmyeon noted abruptly with vague interest that they looked so similar that they could perhaps be brothers; their blonde locks, lean frames and matching smirks were eerily similar. Not to mention the way they talked. 

Kris walked past them with his back stiff, and did not bother to stop when his shoulders collided harshly with Tao’s, crushing him against Sehun. The pair of them righted themselves and then looked towards Kris in surprise, caught off guard.

Junmyeon gave Tao an apologetic look as he passed them, not quite sure what to do, and then hurried to catch up to Kris. His long legs had already taken him several yards ahead.

 

-

 

Yixing ran his hands along the book covers as they walked, marveling quietly at the ceilings arching highly above his head.

“Junmyeon likes to study in here,” Jongdae was saying from beside him, a hint of amusement in his smile. “And he studies a _lot_.”

“I take my classes seriously,” Suho answered in a mild tone. “And it’s a good spot. Quiet.” This was true. They were alone in the room, and apart from their voices echoing off the marble walls, it was silent.  

“So you can just take whichever books you want?” Kyungsoo questioned, and Suho nodded in assent. “You don’t have to check them out? There’s no…record?”

“There’s no one to keep the records,” Kai explained. “But we always bring the books back anyway.”

Yixing noted this with interest. _A library with no librarian,_ he mused, peering curiously around the large room again, and estimated there must be over a thousand books in the high oak bookshelves. There could be no way that every single book was brought back, accounted for, and beyond that, organized back into its proper place. How could the students themselves even find anything in here, without the records? Yet somehow, Kai telling them that there was no librarian did not surprise him. In the forty-some hours he had spent at the Academy, he had been quick to note that they were severely lacking in staff. Or, perhaps, whatever staff did exist was keeping their distance, because Yixing had observed all of seven different adults, each of them being supervisors hosting blank expressions.

The library turned out to be the last stop on the campus tour. The six boys then wandered out to the front of the school, where Jongdae explained they were waiting for transportation to take them to lunch.

“Why are the windows blacked out?” Kris asked when the car pulled up. It had been the first thing that he had said all day, and the others turned to look at him.  

“For our safety,” Suho answered uncomfortably, opening the doors to usher them inside. Even from the inside, the windows were black. Yixing wondered why they even bothered making the cars with windows if no light could get through. No matter, though. The ceiling of the car- it was almost like a limousine, Yixing realized- was lined with fluorescent lights that cast a blueish glow on their faces, turning them all waxy and sun-deprived. 

“Where are we going?” Kyungsoo asked, sitting himself down next to Kai.

“Hot pot,” Kai answered with a content grin.

Kyungsoo’s face lit up. Kris caught Yixing’s gaze from where he sat across and rolled his eyes knowingly. Yixing couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter, and Jongdae glanced over in surprise.

“You shouldn’t get him started talking about food,” Yixing explained with a laugh. “Especially hot pot. That’s his thing.”

“It’s one of the best cuisines!” Kyungsoo protested, and then suddenly he and Kai were off in a deep conversation about the delicacies of the Korean cooking. Yixing realized with a start that they were already friends. The other four watched awkwardly for a moment, unsure what to do next, and then Jongdae turned quickly to Yixing.

“So uh…what’s your thing?”

Yixing shrugged mildly, pressing himself deeper into his seat.

“Computers,” Kris supplied for him. “He’s obsessed with that shit.”

“Language,” Yixing reprimanded, and then shrugged again. “But yeah, computers.”

“Cool,” Jongdae said, sounding vaguely bored. He blew at a wisp of hair that had fallen into his eyes. 

“Do you design them?” Suho asked, an effort to keep the conversation live.

Yixing shook his head. “I mostly do coding.”

“Hacking,” Kris coughed under his breath with a grin, and Yixing shot him a look.

“That is cool,” Jongdae said again, this time sounding a little more interested. He leaned foreword, hands steepled beneath his chin. “Hacking isn’t a very traditional hobby for the heir of a billion dollar company.” His eyes flashed. “Unless it is. Breaking into other networks. Is that your job? Could you hack security networks?”

Yixing wasn’t sure how to reply for a moment, and just looked at his Guarder in surprise.

“I could,” Jongdae told him smoothly. He held out a hand. “And I wouldn’t even need a computer. Just one of these. Even one spark- and boom!”

“Jongdae,” Suho snapped. “That’s enough.”

Jongdae’s jaw tensed, and for a moment Yixing thought he might snap in reply. But then he simply rolled his eyes and leaned back into his seat, his bottom lip jutting out into a pout. The four lapsed back into silence.

Yixing watched Jongdae wearily, his eyes going up and down his small body, settling on his hands. His outburst was an effective reminder that his new peers were dangerous. He glanced again at the black windows. They were dark for protection, Suho had said. Protection for those inside the car? Or were they protecting the people on the outside… from them?

 _One spark,_ Yixing thought dimly, eyes falling on his Guarder’s lithe, smooth fingers. _One spark, and then boom!_

-

 

Sehun sat at the edge of the restaurant booth, watching the other boys. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were laughing raucously with Chen, clapping each other’s back at some joke. The restaurant was empty apart from themselves and the staff, but they made enough noise to make up for it. Kris, Suho, and Yixing sat near the three, all leaning stiffly away. They seemed distinctly uncomfortable. Sehun thought that perhaps something had happened on their way there, but he didn’t bother to ask. He had been relatively quiet for most of the lunch and wasn’t really in the mood to change that. Kyungsoo had ended up on his left and introduced him to the Teleporter, and they had talked amicably for a while (he had even insisted that Sehun call him Jongin), but now he was back in soft conversation with Kyungsoo and the two had forgotten him.

He supposed he could try to talk to Tao, who was sitting on his other side, but his Guarder was maintaining a persistent stony silence. In fact, he was so still that at one point Sehun thought he had fallen asleep.    

Sehun stood abruptly. “Bathroom,” he explained to Tao when his Guarder looked up, and scooted past. He needed some air.

The bathroom was at the back of the restaurant, at the very end of a hallway. The door to it swung open before Sehun could reach for the handle, revealing Luhan on the other side, his blazer off and looped over his arm.

“Oh,” Sehun said in surprise, and then stepped back to let him pass.

“You first,” Luhan smiled. He opened the door wider, motioning for Sehun to go through with a wide sweeping gesture. Sehun didn’t move. There was a pause, and then Luhan raised his eyebrows in amusement.

“I don’t really need to go,” Sehun admitted in a rush. He felt his cheeks begin to colour. “I just wanted some air. The others are loud.”

Luhan laughed sweetly and then stepped closer, letting the door swing shut behind him. “I get that." He unfolded his jacked from his arm and began to pull it on. "Want some company?”

“Sure,” Sehun stumbled, and watched as Luhan stepped past him and moved down the hallway. He stood, frozen for a moment still, and then urged his feet to follow, trailing him like a lost puppy.

Luhan reached the end of the hallway and then pushed another door to his right. He looked over his shoulder at Sehun, disappearing through it with a smile. Sehun followed, and then paused. The door said Employees Only. He hesitated for a fraction of a moment and then pushed foreword, only to find that it led outside to a small balcony with a dumpster a few feet to the right.

“They take their trash out this door,” Luhan explained with another laugh. “Chanyeol once dared me to open it- he had some idea that maybe it led to a secret passageway. We were all supremely disappointed to find this instead.”

Sehun couldn’t help but laugh too, and stepped towards the edge of the balcony to join him. “Couldn’t you just predict what was on the other side?”

At this Luhan broke down into giggles. “It doesn’t really work that way.” He glanced at Sehun through the corner of his eye, a wide grin on his face. “I was pretty sure I wouldn’t die though, so I thought I’d risk it.”

“Seems like you have your priorities in order,” Sehun told him dryly, and Luhan giggled again. The sound was perfectly adorable. When the laughter died off they stood in silence for a moment, enjoying the outside air.

“How are you doing?” Luhan asked suddenly, turning to him. “You’re the youngest, aren’t you? It must be a lot to take in. I hope we haven’t been too intimidating.” He smiled sagely. “Then again, you have the most intimidating Guarder, so I guess we can’t be that bad.”

“I like Tao,” Sehun said.

“I wasn’t doubting that,” Luhan laughed.

“Why does he have the Cuff?” Sehun asked suddenly. He had questioned Tao about it as many times as he dared, but he had only learned its function, never the story behind it. He supposed it was a touchy subject for everyone, but he realized with a start that he felt strangely comfortable around Luhan. He wouldn’t have dared ask him otherwise. “I know it stops him from using his power. But he refuses to tell me…why.”

Luhan’s face had gone blank. He looked at Sehun with what might have been sympathy. “Tao likes to do things his way,” he said. “Sometimes he’s dangerous. There’s nothing more to it than that.”

Sehun looked away in frustration. Yet another answer that answered nothing. “You’re all dangerous,” he muttered under his breath. There was silence. _Shit,_ Sehun thought with a sigh. _Now he’s offended._

“We’re young boys,” Luhan said softly after a beat of quiet. “We’re hardly dangerous. It’s our powers that can be- if the situation calls for it. And sometimes it’s hard to know when that situation is.” He looked Sehun squarely in the eye, shoulders tense. “Tao didn’t know.”

Sehun swallowed, and then nodded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”

Luhan shrugged. “As I said, I was hoping we weren’t intimidating. But sometimes people see something they haven’t experienced before and they interpret it as danger.” He kept his eyes trained on Sehun. “We’re here to protect you. The Cuff is just an extension of that, believe me.”

“I do,” Sehun replied quietly. He glanced at the closed door behind them. “Perhaps we should go back. We don’t want them to forget about us.”

Luhan laughed again, sweet as ever. “They won’t.” All the same, he reached for the door handle and pulled it open, ushering Sehun to go first. “It would be hard to forget someone like you.” At this Sehun turned, wanting to ask what that meant, but then Minseok shouted Luhan’s name from back at the booth. The Telepathic stepped past him, calling back, and Sehun was forgotten.


	4. Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .

Minseok walked into the maths rooms and chose the desk at the very front and centre. Yesterday Junmyeon had taken it, but today the Guarders weren’t in the room with the KAE students. Their schedule was very different from what Minseok was used to, but he had still figured it out quickly and recorded it with coloured sharpies on a piece of smooth white paper, which he had tucked into the clear part of his binder. It went as follows: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the Guarders took Chemistry and English in the mornings with the KAE students, and in the afternoon they went to the training centre to work on their powers. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they trained in the mornings and then joined the others for Maths and History in the afternoon. Minseok and the rest of the KAE students were expected to attend all four classes every day. How the others caught up from missed classes, Minseok had no idea, but he suspected that grades were secondary in comparison to their Guarder training.

Today was a Wednesday, hence the Guarders were absent for Maths. With six students, the classroom was depressingly empty, but Minseok found he was already used to it. In fact, he liked the small sizes, it helped him focus.

He did feel Luhan’s absence, however. They had already been back together for six days, but it had felt like mere minutes. Minseok had craved Luhan’s reassuring presence for almost seven years now, and in six days they had just barely scratched the surface of missed conversation that had been impossible to replicate in their letters.

Minseok sat attentively, his fingers folded in on one another in his lap. There really was no reason for this; he was early, even the teacher wasn’t yet there. Their scheduling had left them with almost twenty minutes breaks in between each class because each one was almost two and a half hours long. However, Minseok had had nothing to do in that twenty minutes; he had already finished his work and since Luhan was in the training centre he had been left alone. He wasn’t sure where the other four KAE students had disappeared to, but he didn’t feel like looking.

In fact, Minseok had spent almost no time with his peers since arriving at the Academy. All of his free energy he had spent on Luhan. Even now, sitting alone in the empty Maths classroom, the Telepathic’s pretty face was somehow on his mind. With a sharp snap Minseok opened his textbook, determined to think about something more productive, but his efforts were futile.

 _I’ll have to tell him eventually,_ Minseok though with a sigh after he had spent another fruitless three minutes starting at equations while thinking solely of the lovely way Luhan combed his hair in the mornings. _Tonight, maybe._

Even as he thought it, Minseok knew he wouldn’t tell Luhan he was in love with him. Besides, he was a Telepathic. He probably already knew.

 

-

 

“Take that!” Jongdae screamed, shooting an electric bolt across the gamefield, a look of determined ecstasy on his face. An entire row of simulated soldiers went down in a swoop, falling against each other like comical dominoes. They twitched for a moment, breaking into pixelated squares, and then faded from the simulation like fog. Jongdae whooped triumphantly, looking satisfied, until the other sixty or so soldiers started taking fire.

“Jongdae, you idiot!” Tao hissed in frustration, immediately ducking down. “Way to give away our location, dumbass.”

Jongdae stuck his tongue out. “Turn back time and stop me, then.” With another whoop, he leapt out from the trees they were taking cover in and began running at a full sprint towards the army, hands sparking with energy.

Luhan gave Tao a look of sympathy. His face had folded in at Jongdae’s dig, good hand tightening over his gun so violently that Luhan thought it might snap.

“He’s just excited because we started a new one,” Luhan tried to soothe him. “You know how he gets.”

Tao said nothing in reply, instead turning away to look for Jongin, who was supposed to be appearing any second now. Luhan sighed. He did feel sorry for him, but sometimes Tao’s attitude was infuriating. It was hard to fight a battle when one of the team members refused to communicate. Of course, he imagined it was harder for Tao, who was still required to wear his Cuff during group simulations. Even if he had wanted to turn back time on Jongdae’s actions, he was unable. For him, even being part of the team was a struggle.

“I found it!” Jongin cried, his voice coming through before his body did, and then he appeared on Luhan’s right. He took a step to steady himself, looking disoriented, and then caught sight of Luhan and Tao by the trees. He glanced around, noting the missing member, and turned back to them. “Where’s Jongdae?”

“Went to combat. You know how he is,” Luhan repeated, and Jongin rolled his eyes. Another spray of bullets hit the trees and they all flattened themselves against the ground, wincing.

“There’s two possible getaway ships,” Jongin started saying, speaking as quickly as he could. “One is ill-equipped and will go down as soon as we try to fly it away. But the other one has the Chief Commander in it. Lots of firepower, lots of protection. That’s what we need.”

Luhan nodded, thinking fast. The goal of this simulation, which they were attempting for the very first time, was to evacuate at least ten innocent civilians away from the battlegrounds and hopefully stop the army from obliterating their village. Luhan had already identified the civilians and had told them to gather a little bit deeper in the forest where there was the most cover. Jongin had been teleporting trying to find a getaway vehicle, Junmyeon and Chanyeol had been holding back the army on the main part of the gamefield, and Tao, Luhan and Jongdae had been in charge of protecting the civilians. Well, they had been, until Jongdae had decided to go rogue.

“How many bodies are in the ship?” Luhan asked.

“I don’t know,” Jongin answered. “I wasn’t close enough. But the Commander’s still in there, so I’m guessing he has at least four guards with him.”

“So all we have to do is take out four soldiers,” Luhan said.

“The ship itself is also heavily guarded,” Jongin said. “And there’s no way we’re getting the civilians across this battlefield. We need the ship to come to us.”

Luhan was silent. He knew exactly what Jongin was asking of him, but he didn’t like it.

“Luhan, you have to,” Tao said from beside him. “There’s no other way.”

“You know I can’t,” Luhan hissed back fiercely. “There has to be something else.”

“Tao’s right,” Jongin said. “Lu…”

Luhan spared a glance up at the field, where Jongdae was taking down an onslaught of soldiers while laughing maniacally. Along with Junmyeon and Chanyeol, the three of them were doing a pretty good job, but there was no denying that the soldiers were slowly pushing closer and closer to the tree line. In the next few minutes, they would be through and the game would be over.

Luhan looked back at Tao and Jongin. They were both staring at him despairingly. Without another word, Luhan closed his eyes, attempting to make a connection with the simulated Chief Commander.

It was simple. Get in the Commander’s head and influence him into flying the ship towards the civilians. If possible, force him to kill the other soldiers that were in the ship with him. Once the ship was within range, Jongin and Tao could easily overtake the Commander, get the civilians inside, and use it as a getaway. And they would win.

Luhan identified the Commander easily enough. His mind was uncomfortably blank, as was all the simulated characters, and Luhan knew all he had to do was plant a few thoughts inside his head. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, probing a bit further, and then froze, sweating. All he had to do was take the reigns, to overtake one simple person. But he couldn’t do it.

“Luhan!” Tao shouted. “Luhan, hurry up! We don’t have much time!”

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t. It was like forcing himself on someone, raping their mind. His power wasn’t meant to be used in this way, violating someone so intimately. Luhan was supposed to comfort people, give them strength, help those who needed support. He didn’t want to take control of someone else. The character’s mind was completely barren, just waiting for him to give instruction, but he was simply incapable. He couldn’t.

“Luhan!” Jongin screamed.

And then the bullet hit him. There was a moment where Luhan could feel himself being physically expelled out of the fake Commander’s head, back to his own body, a flash where he felt the pain with an excruciating white hot flame, and then he was waking up in the plastic blue simulation chairs with a gasp, fists clenched.

For a moment he just sat, staring up at the white tile ceiling, his chest heaving, unable to move.

“Are you kidding me?” Jongdae grumbled, and Luhan forced his head to move so he could look at the others. They sat in a semi-circle in the blue chairs, the small white simulation pads attaching them all together through wires and machinery. Back into reality. “We would’ve won,” Jongdae was saying. “We almost had it!”

“I’m sorry,” Luhan managed to get out. The rest of the Guarders were coming to, blinking themselves awake and groaning. “I couldn’t do it.”

-

 

Kyungsoo lay straight as a stick in bed; his eyes wide open at the ceiling above him. The silence was suffocating. It was dark, but Jongin had not yet returned from training. He felt it would be rude to fall asleep before he came back, but his Guarder hadn’t showed at dinner, and now it was almost half an hour past their supposed curfew.

Just as Kyungsoo was thinking about getting up and looking for him, the handle on the dorm room door turned, revealing a worn Jongin on the other side.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo croaked out, and sat himself up.

“Oh,” Jongin said, turning towards him. “Hey. I thought you were sleeping.”

“No,” Kyungsoo answered, and watched as his Guarder trudged to his bed, red Academy blazer looped over his shoulders. His hair was wild, white strands sticking up in bizarre formations, and he looked exhausted. His eyes were heavy lidded and grim. “What happened?”

Jongin shrugged. “Just training.” He was avoiding Kyungsoo’s gaze.

“Are you sure?”

Jongin took his time answering, and Kyungsoo regarded him carefully. There was something he wasn’t telling him. They had been living with each other for just over a week now, and Kyungsoo thought they were getting along quite well. He didn’t think it was at all a stretch to say they were friends. But he was also getting used to these occasional silences. Most of the time Jongin was warm and welcoming, but he had moments were he wouldn’t talk to Kyungsoo at all, instead lost in his own world where everything seemed to be heavy and dark. Kyungsoo had made the decision a day or two ago to break into that world. He wanted to understand Jongin, even if the circumstances were bleak. A friend was a friend.

“I’m sure,” Jongin finally answered, peeling off his shirt to slip into his sleepwear. He offered no other explanation.

Kyungsoo considered dropping it for a moment, but he realized he didn’t like seeing his Guarder so troubled. “Why did they keep you so late?” he pressed.

Jongin sighed, and then sat himself down on his bed. “Can’t we just sleep?”

“I want to know,” Kyungsoo insisted stubbornly.

Jongin eyed him wearily for a moment, and then gave in with another sigh. “They didn’t keep me. They kept Luhan.”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

Jongin leaned back uncomfortably. “The simulation.”

Kyungsoo waited for another explanation, but none came. “Jongin,” he said softly after a few seconds of silence. “You can tell me. Trust…it goes both ways.”

At this Jongin looked down at his hands. He took a moment or two before starting, seeming to gather himself, and then began to talk in a rapid low voice, not making eye contact. “They’ve been pushing him lately. They want him to use his powers in a certain way, but he’s not comfortable with it. This simulation seemed to be designed specifically just for him, and we failed because he couldn’t complete it. They kept him late to talk about his performance. I waited outside because I wanted to make sure he was ok- I care about him. We all do.”

Kyungsoo took this in with a nod of understanding. “You guys are close?”

Jongin nodded. “I’ve been doing the program with him the longest. My dad knew his parents.”

“What…” Kyungsoo began to ask, and then stopped. He bit his lip, feeling as if he was walking on dangerous ground, and then continued. “I don’t know if I can ask this. But what did you mean by Luhan using his powers in a way he’s not comfortable with?”

Jongin looked up, staring at him straight in the eye. “I’m not sure if you want to know.”

Kyungsoo swallowed. “I do.”

There was a pause, Jongin considering. “There are parts of our powers…that are unstable,” he said slowly. “We all have our moments. Junmyeon and Chanyeol have them almost never. Luhan and I, maybe a bit more often. Tao and Jongdae…” he paused, looking at Kyungsoo with a sort of pleading unhappiness. He cleared his throat. “The fact is that we all have parts of our powers, whether big or small, that are unexplored. And what you don’t know, you can’t control. And if you’re not in control, it’s scary.” He stopped for a breath, and Kyungsoo noticed his hands were trembling. “We deal with lack of control in different ways. Jongdae just lashes out. I think he actually likes the unknown- enjoys giving up authority, letting his power rule. Tao did, too. Before they stopped him. But Luhan…Luhan refuses to even toe the line of control. He won’t admit it, but…” Jongin closed his eyes, looking pained. “…if he ever decides to draw that part of his power out, he’ll be almost helpless. He doesn’t know what might happen. None of us do.”

There was a silence. Jongin’s whole body was trembling now, almost shivering in the dark. “I hate to see him like this,” he whispered. “But I have no idea what to do. Maybe they’re right. Maybe he does need to learn. But it’s killing him inside. I can tell.” He swallowed dryly. “He’s my friend. I want to protect him.”

 _Yes,_ Kyungsoo thought, and felt himself stand up. He walked over to Jongin, and then wrapped his arms around his trembling shoulders in a hug. _That’s what friends do._


	5. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .

 

Kyungsoo sat curled up in his bed, blanket wrapped around his bare shoulders in a comforting hug. After over a month at the Academy, he had become used to these nights alone, where Jongin wouldn’t come back from training until close to midnight. Jongin always told him he didn’t have to wait up, but Kyungsoo didn’t like sleeping until his Guarder was back- it was nice to see him at the end of the day. He had learned to fill the empty space with other amusements.

 _“And now… our Teleporter!”_ an announcer’s voice crowed from his laptop screen, and his speakers let out a splat of tinny applause. Kyungsoo watched with wide eyes, waiting patiently with the audience in the video for someone to take the stage. There was a pause of confusion where it remained empty, and then Jongin appeared in the space, all tousled hair and careless limbs. The audience gave a gasp, and so did Kyungsoo, enraptured with Jongin’s effervescent presence.

 _“Hey,”_ the Jongin on the screen said with a smirk. He adjusted his mic casually, and then flashed a smile at the cameras. _“I’m Kai.”_

There were some screams in the audience. Jongin winked, his lips curling up in a coquettish smile. Kyungsoo laughed out loud, fingers tightening around his blanket.

The video-Jongin proceeded to disappear, only to reappear several times in succession around the stage, each time in a different cheesy, yet undeniably attractive pose. He flashed under the lights, blue leather and sheer fabric clinging to his form with delectable easiness. After a good minute or so of this, he finally stopped in the middle of the stage, face split in a wide grin. He was enjoying himself, Kyungsoo realized. He loved the crowd- and he played them like a fiddle.

After the screaming and applause had finally quieted, Jongin lifted the mic to his lips again. _“I’m so thrilled to be here…”_ he said, and began to explain the Guarder program to the sponsors. Kyungsoo tilted the laptop screen closer to him, wanting to look at this video-Jongin more closely. His eyes were lined with dark makeup, and his shock of white hair was styled into a pretty mess. Kyungsoo himself remembered this look well. He had seen it on television constantly when the Guarder’s had first begun their promotions, at least three or four years ago. He realized with a start that the Jongin in the video was only fourteen. Strange- his makeup and styling made him look even older than he did in the present day.

 _Fourteen,_ Kyungsoo thought, disturbed. They were so clearly exploiting his looks, dressing him up like a Barbie doll in clingy clothes and facepaint, just so that the sponsors might hand over some money. It seemed…dishonest. Of course, it wasn’t just Jongin- other Guarders stood lined up at the back of the stage watching their peer with amusement. Tao and Luhan were missing, as they had been from the beginning of promotions, but Jongdae, Junmyeon and Chanyeol were all just as made up, lighting and makeup turning them into teenage models.

“What are you doing?” a voice suddenly asked, and Kyungsoo looked up, startled and guilty, so see Jongin at the door.

“Nothing,” he blurted out quickly, hitting pause on the video, and then blushed.

Jongin raised an eyebrow, glancing first at the laptop and then back at Kyungsoo, shirtless underneath his blanket. “I see,” he said slowly. “You know if you want some, uh…private time…you can just pull the curtain closed.”

Kyungsoo blushed redder, realizing he had made his situation look very incriminating, and shook his head. “Oh no, that’s not…I wasn’t doing…” he spluttered, and then bit his lip when he realized Jongin was trying not to laugh. He opted to simply turn the laptop around instead of talking.

“My promotion stages?” Jongin asked after he had peered closely at the bright screen. He sat down on the edge of Kyungsoo’s bed, taking the laptop from his outstretched hands. “Why are you watching these?”

Kyungsoo shrugged. “I was bored. I was just browsing- they popped up on my feed-”

“I was so little!” Jongin exclaimed, interrupting him, and then unpaused the video. Laptop-Jongin sprung to life, tossing his hair back with a smug grin. “Oh, god,” Jongin groaned with a laugh. “I look like such a tool.”

“You look like a model,” Kyungsoo said without thinking, and then blushed again. “I mean, like, the way they dressed you up-”

Jongin laughed, cutting him off again. “I know. They really went hard at the beginning of promotions. God, why did people watch these?” His face wound up in distaste.

Kyungsoo shrugged again. He knew why- the flashy, silly promotions had been a break from all the heavy, constant news of the war. When all the television showed was people dying, sometimes it was nice to just watch some teenage boys with superpowers and blue leather pants. Besides, at the time, the Guarders had been such a novelty, such an incredible discovery that everyone had wanted to track their progress. When superheroes were being created, why wouldn’t you watch them instead of dying masses of rabid sick people?

“You guys were nice to look at,” Kyungsoo said instead of explaining. That was true. It had helped that the four Guarders who had been announced to the public were all stunning.

Jongin let out a snort of laughter. “Are you kidding? I look like a plastic smurf.”

Kyungsoo smiled. “You don’t miss doing these at all?”

“God no,” Jongin said. “Promotions were the absolute worst.”

“Are you sure? You look like you loved the crowd,” Kyungsoo noted, and they both watched as the video-Jongin blew a kiss at the audience.

“Mm,” Jongin grunted non-committally. “Well, they certainly did not help my ego.” The Jongin on the screen finished his speech and bowed graciously, before disappearing from the stage again, and the announcer began to introduce Chen. “Besides, we have no time for stages anymore.”

Kyungsoo nodded in assent. “Too much training now?”

Jongin shook his head. “We had just as much training back then.” He rolled his eyes with playful exaggeration. “No, now we have to deal with you lot.”

Kyungsoo laughed. “Oh, sorry to burden you. Of course, you’d rather be blowing kisses to your thousands of sponsors than sitting here with me.”

Jongin grinned. “Nah. That was fun for a while, but…” He trailed off, shrugging.

“But what?” Kyungsoo asked, closing his laptop.

“But I’m not cut out for that stuff,” Jongin said. “Not continuously, anyway. It’s fun when you’re on stage, but they prepare you so intensely that you get to hate it. All the things I said up there- all the expressions, the poses, the hair flips, everything- it was all prepared. They drill you for hours to make sure you’re presentable.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, mildly surprised. Video-Jongin had seemed so natural, so casual and comfortable with the crowd. And to think that attitude hadn’t been organic. He looked Jongin up and down, from his perfect jaw line to his long legs, and thought privately that he looked like he was born for the stage.

“Yeah,” Jongin answered, not looking at him. “Anyway, we should get to bed.” He rose from Kyungsoo’s bed, peeling his blazer off in one fluid movement. “Mind if I use the shower first?”

Kyungsoo shook his head mutely. He waited until Jongin had disappeared into the bathroom and he could hear the water starting, and then he opened his laptop back up, restarting the video where the Teleporter was announced.

 

-

 

Yixing awoke to the sound of a creaking door, boyish voices hazing through in hushed shouts of _Jongdae Chanyeol Baekhyun._

“What’s happening?” he asked blearily, sitting up from his bed to see Jongdae pulling open their dorm room door, his Academy blazer thrown over his silk pyjama shirt. His small frame was silhouetted in the moonlight, shadows long and looming. “Jongdae? Where are you going? It’s one in the morning.”

“I know,” Jongdae grinned devilishly, and pulled the door the rest of the way open. “I could hear Chanyeol and Baekhyun out in the hall, I just want to see what they’re doing.” He disappeared through the door, the hushed shouts growing louder. Yixing gave a long sigh before looping his legs over the bed, following him.

Jongdae had joined Baekhyun and Chanyeol at the end of the hall, who were both fully dressed. Baekhyun waved Yixing over with a sunny smile. “Hey! Coming to join the party?”

“What party?” Yixing demanded, wrapping his arms around his chest. “You guys should be in bed. We’re not supposed to be out of our rooms at night.”

“Baekhyun said he has a surprise,” Chanyeol said. His eyes shone with excitement. “You can come see it too, if you want.” The three boys shifted with anticipation.

“Baek, are you insane?” Yixing hissed. “What ‘surprise’ do you have at one in the morning?”

“Come with us and you can see,” Baekhyun giggled. “It’s downstairs. By the back exit in the Maths hall.” He and Chanyeol turned towards the stairs, laughing in hushed tones.

“They’re going to wake everyone up,” Yixing muttered. “So dumb.”

“Aren’t you curious?” Jongdae said quietly, and Yixing turned to see that his eyes were flashing, a small cat-like smile playing his lips. “Come on.” Without waiting for Yixing’s answer, he took off after the others, bare feet sliding over the marble flooring.

Reckless. For a moment Yixing found himself wondering why he had even been partnered with Jongdae in the first place. He thought back to the first night, where his Guarder had been so charming, so sweet and gentle.

Yixing glanced back at their dorm room, torn, before giving an exasperated sigh. He followed.

They reached the back exit, somehow not running into any supervisors, and Baekhyun pushed the door open, grinning from the tips of his hair to his toes. “Ta-da!”

There was silence. The other three stood at the door for a moment, simply staring. Chanyeol was the first to break the sheet of shock, and leapt forward with a wild laugh. “Holy shit!” He clapped a hand over Baekhyun’s shoulder, and the two fell into one another, giggling with glee.

“Holy shit,” Jongdae repeated quietly. Yixing turned to him, mouth set in a line, ready to pull him back upstairs, but then he saw that his Guarder was in _awe,_ his eyes widened in anticipation.

“Jongdae,” Yixing said hurriedly, recognizing his expression, and grabbed his arm. “No. This is ridiculous.”

“Yes,” Jongdae breathed, and stepped forward, brushing his hand off. “It is.”

He joined Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who were gathered around the surprise, laughing with excitement.

“What are you going to do?” Yixing asked in distress. “Take it for a joyride?”

“Exactly,” Baekhyun answered wildly. He spread his arms out over the cherry red Ferrari, parked in stark juxtaposition beside the school’s dumpsters, and laughed again. “Surprise, Yixing!”

“No,” Yixing replied sharply. “You guys will get caught. You can’t leave the school property without permission, it’s in the rules.”

The three boys had ceased to listen, instead whipping open the doors of the car and clambering inside.

“Jongdae!” Yixing called out. “You can’t, please, you can’t…”

A window rolled down, and Jongdae stuck his head out. “Come join us, Yixing!” He gestured with a hand, a mad grin on his face, and Yixing simply shook his head, the car already rolling away. When it had disappeared around the corner of the school he stood for a good minute longer, as if expecting it to come back, but the night stayed empty.

 

-

 

 _“This is insaaane!”_ Jongdae screamed, his voice whipped away in the wind through the open windows. From the front seat Baekhyun was laughing, a long wailing sound in the night air. Chanyeol sat beside him, one large hand gripping Baekhyun’s thigh, knuckles white.

“Do you even have your licence?!” he yelled at Baekhyun, sounding terrified but exalted.

“Of course!” Baekhyun screamed back, and then slammed on the breaks. The three boys were launched forward in a lurching squeal, and then thrown back to their seats, tears of laughter peeling down their cheeks.

“You sure don’t drive like it,” Chanyeol gasped in between laughs.

“You want a turn?” Baekhyun asked, wiping away the moisture from his cheeks.

“I’ve never driven in my life,” Chanyeol said by way of answer.

Baekhyun shrugged. “Your loss.” He placed his hands back on the wheel, and proceeded to turn the Ferrari into a narrow U-turn, throwing Jongdae against the right side of the car with viscous suddenness. Once back on the road Baekhyun took it slower, a smooth forty miles per hour instead of his breakneck one-twenty they had been going at for the past twenty minutes. Jongdae felt it was safe enough to unbuckle his seat-belt, and he leaned over to stick his head out the window, making little waves with his hand.

The absurdity of it all somehow made Jongdae feel calmer. Baekhyun had somehow led them out into the countryside, and they hadn’t yet shared the road with a single car. Jongdae lived almost constantly with the urge to use his power, force the energy up from his body and out to the tips of his fingers, crackling with light into the surrounding air- but now that feeling was almost entirely absent. Perhaps it was the adrenaline that had taken its place.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun were chattering up front, lost in each other’s worlds, but Jongdae tuned them out, instead focusing on the night sky. There was no light save the moon and stars, something Jongdae had not experienced ever in his eighteen years of existence. He had zero clue where they were right now, but he trusted Baekhyun enough to find their way back to the school. He didn’t even know whose car this was, or how it had gotten inside the school gates. When he had asked Baekhyun the boy had just giggled, telling him ominously “I have connections.”

Jongdae wished he could steal a few of those connections. He hadn’t been this far away from the Academy in years, and the feeling was beautiful.

“Mind if I have a go?” he called to Baekhyun, and the car slowed to a stop.

“Not at all,” came the reply, and they exchanged spots.

“I’ve never driven either,” Jongdae stated, not really an admission, but more of a warning.

“Right pedal’s the gas,” Baekhyun laughed. “Left’s the brake. Don’t go too fast.”

“Alrighty,” Jongdae said with a breath, and nudged the car into motion. It lurched forward and Jongdae immediately hit the brake, surprised at the suddenness. The boys jerked back and Chanyeol chuckled. Jongdae glanced at his fellow Guarder, his surprise softening into a smile, and then he hit the gas again, this time letting the car cruise forward on its own accord.

By the time they reached the Academy again it was three in the morning, and the buzz from adrenaline had started to fade into exhaustion. Baekhyun said he would deal with the car, rushing the others back to their dorms. Jongdae trudged slowly up the stairs, dreading entering his room. The excitement of the night had started to morph hotly into guilt, and he was remembering Yixing’s shocked face when they had driven away with sudden clarity.

He reached his door and opened it, ready to apologize. But Yixing wasn’t waiting for him, as he had partly expected. Instead he was curled up in his bed, the covers pulled up to his ears, apparently fast asleep. Jongdae swallowed, the sight of his auburn hair twisting him with yawning self-reproach.

 

-

 

“Minseok,” Mr. Lee smiled broadly, and motioned for him to enter. Minseok walked into the office, textbooks clutched between tight fingers against his chest. At the sight of the principal he felt his pulse quicken, and he had to force himself to keep him face smooth.

“Sir,” Minseok said back with a small nod. The man was not particularly intimidating in stature, but there was something in his expression that made Minseok want to straighten his posture, fix his hair, and put on his best suit. “You wanted to see me?”

The principal nodded, that broad smile still splitting his lined face. “That is correct. Have a seat, Minseok.”

Minseok obliged without hesitation. He faced Mr. Lee across his wide oak desk, the space seeming to stretch into miles between them.

“Tell me, how are you finding the Academy?” Mr. Lee asked, his fingers steepled beneath his chin. He leaned back into his chair, still grinning as he awaited Minseok’s response.

“It’s very wonderful, sir,” Minseok answered, fighting to keep his voice from trembling. He had never been this close to the principal before. Although he had met people of much higher authority over his lifetime, for some reason the man’s presence was suffocating.

“That’s good,” Mr. Lee said casually. “Very good.” There was a beat of silence, and he looked over Minseok over, his eyes shining behind his wire frames. Minseok tried to remember what Luhan had told him before he had gone in- _don’t fidget, Baozi, that’s just a sign of weakness-_ but he couldn’t stop himself from shifting. The silence was unnerving. “I’ve heard you have top marks in all your classes,” Mr. Lee finally said, voice smooth.

Minseok was unsure how to respond, and instead just gave a nod of assent.

“That’s very impressive.”

There was another pause, and it was clear that the principal was awaiting a response. “It’s only been five weeks,” Minseok managed to say. “That could change.”

“Hmm,” Mr. Lee agreed. “I would say that makes it even more impressive that you’ve managed to surpass your classmates in such a short time.” He raised an eyebrow.

“I have the same grades as Junmyeon in History and English,” Minseok said faintly, just because he felt he needed to say something.

“That in itself is a feat,” Mr. Lee responded, his voice dry. It was curious- although he was praising Minseok, he could not help but feel chastised.

“Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Lee grinned again, leaning forward over the desk towards Minseok. “No. Thank you, Mr. Kim. Your drive is admirable. I daresay it needs to be rewarded.”

Minseok’s textbooks slipped in his hands, unable to keep his surprise at bay. He fumbled for them and then looked up, meeting the principal’s eyes with bewilderment.

“We will discuss more at length later,” Mr. Lee continued, a shadow of amusement in his eyes. “For now, I just want you to know that your efforts are being recognized. You have class in a few minutes, so I won’t keep you for much longer. But perhaps this weekend, we can meet again?”

It was not a question. Minseok simply nodded, his face numb.

“I have an opportunity for you to undertake,” Mr. Lee explained. “It will take some time to understand. But its affects will be revolutionary. I do not exaggerate.” The broad smile spread across his face again.

“It’s an honour, sir,” Minseok breathed, amazed that he still had his voice. “Truly, an honour.”

 

**A/N: So I wrote that whole first section after watching this fancam:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvB-4Tckexs &list=RDEM8pcTzpJ1bdF1cAGNREqtrg&index=2 Go watch it it's incredible godbless (and yes, that's the outfit I was thinking of while writing lol). Also I'm sorry updates for this story are so sporadic. I actually have a ton already written in the AU, the struggle is just trying to piece all the ideas together into something coherent for you guys. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll stop talking now bye. **


	6. Focus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .

**Quick A/N: Hi sorry I've been gone so long. I was pretty much going to give up on this story but then I got bored and ended up writing like five new pages whoops. Anyway sorry this is a little choppy and for my terrible updating habits. Also thank you for everyone who has read/ left comments/ left kudos I really do appreciate it.**

After training Jongin headed straight to the library. Not because he needed a book or wanted to study, but due solely to the noise of the others. He was in a bad mood, and Jongdae’s chattering with Chanyeol and Tao was doing no help. 

He shouldn’t have been surprised when Luhan found him a few minutes later, his favourite new practice robes trailing behind him. He looked a little bit ridiculous, Jongin thought privately, with the piles of white sheer fabric dropping near to the floor, but Luhan had a way of being able to pull off ridiculous. 

“Hi Kai-shi,” Luhan greeted him, a tired yet cheeky smile on his pink lips, and Jongin only groaned in response. “You okay?” 

Jongin looked up, feeling slightly guilty. Luhan was the one who had been suffering through extra training lately, and it showed on his weary face, yet somehow he was asking Jongin if he was okay. Only natural, he supposed. Luhan was always looking out for him. It had been a while since they had talked privately, what with all the changes that had happened in the past few months, but the Telepathic’s presence was as comforting as ever. “Training was so boring today,” Jongin finally said, motioning him over. “I’m just tired.” 

“Then you should go to bed,” Luhan pointed out matter-of-factly, sitting with gentle grace upon the arm of Jongin’s chair. “It’s almost nine o’clock.”

“I need to eat first,” Jongin said. 

Luhan shrugged, pulling aside his white robes with meticulous fingers. “Then go eat. The books aren’t going to turn into food.” 

“I know,” Jongin replied absentmindedly. “I just wanted some quiet.” He looked down at his hands. And then, because he had long stopped trying to hide things from Luhan, he added, “I was awful in training today.” 

“You have been a little bit off lately,” Luhan agreed, without hesitation. Jongin snorted, about to spit out some quip about his lack of support, but then he saw that Luhan’s mouth was pursed in genuine concern. “That’s why I came to find you, Jongin. Are you okay?”

Jongin shrugged. He sensed somehow that Luhan was going out of his way to check on him, and an explanation felt owed. “I think so. I just- I can’t-” he let out an exasperated sigh, unable to explain. 

“You can’t focus,” Luhan supplied helpfully. “Something distracting you?” With this he placed a smooth hand over Jongin’s, a teasing smile on his face. Jongin shot him a look. Luhan’s fingers laced in between his, the smile turning into a giggle, and Jongin rolled his eyes. It had been a long time since Luhan had looked at him that way, but one glance was enough to tell that he was kidding. His lithe figure had been a good body to experiment on, back when Jongin first wanted to, but those times were long past, like distant music in the wind. 

Luhan took his hand back, his face going serious. “There is something, though.”

Jongin didn’t bother to argue with him on that one. “Minseok will be looking for you,” he said instead, to change the subject. “You should go be see your partner instead of me.” 

“He’s with Mr. Lee. He’s been chosen for some special project. They’re discussing it now- he said it might involve me too,” Luhan said, as if it was a tidbit of casual information. “I think that’s why I’ve been doing extra training.”

Jongin raised his eyebrows, awaiting more explanation, but none came. “Anyway, don’t try to change the subject,” Luhan said, amused. “We’re talking about you, not Minseok.”

“I wasn’t talking about anything before you decided to interrupt my peace and quiet,” Jongin shot back. 

Luhan laughed, a sweet sound. “Don’t be sassy. I want to help you.” 

Jongin sighed, giving in. Recently the supervisors had been particularly hard on the Telepathic during training, and in a way he sensed that Luhan’s sudden concern was his way of trying to earn some of his confidence back. “It’s just been the past week or so. I just can’t focus.” He looked down at his hands again. “I don’t know what’s going on. It’s not like school is hard or anything- honestly, classes are a breeze when Kyungsoo can just explain everything you don’t understand, and my hours are so short right now since I’m just doing analysis in training.” He paused, biting his lip. “Which is boring as hell, but that doesn’t explain why I’m so unfocused.” 

Luhan thought for a moment, contemplating this, and then abruptly held out a hand in offer, eyebrows raised. Jongin shook his head. “No. No offense Lu, but I never liked you rummaging around my mind for answers.” 

“No, you just liked what came after,” Luhan shot back, his tired eyes twinkling with that teasing sweetness again. Jongin wondered briefly how exhausted the Telepathic must be. He supposed mental training was enough to make flirts of even the most composed.  

“This isn’t the same,” he said.

Luhan shrugged. “Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still help. Don’t you want to know what’s going on so you can fix it?” 

Jongin exhaled loudly, irritated. “Well, yes, but I should be able to do that on my own. It’s weird to have someone else in your head to understand your own problems.”

“An outside perspective helps,” Luhan said patiently. “It’s like therapy.” 

Jongin looked at him unhappily, but Luhan could already see he was relenting. He took Jongin’s hand without another word, and they both closed their eyes, lapsing into silence. 

It didn’t matter how many times Luhan had done this before; Jongin still hated the feeling of another presence in his head. It was like his skull was twice as heavy, weighted with another set of thoughts. Luckily Luhan’s excavation took under a minute, and he ended it with a knowing “Ah,” his hands leaving Jongin’s with a start.

Jongin’s eyes popped open to see Luhan looking as if he was trying not to laugh. “Well?” he asked impatiently. 

“You were wrong,” Luhan said, a smile at the corner of his lips.

“What?”

“When you said this isn’t the same.” His lips tugged up a little further. “It’s exactly the same, actually.” 

Jongin looked at him in equal parts bewilderment and exasperation. “What?” he repeated.

“You’ll figure it out,” Luhan said, already gathering his robes around him and standing. “Don’t worry.” 

“Luhan!” Jongin called after him as he began to leave. “You can’t not explain my own thoughts to me!” When it was clear that Luhan was not turning back and had no such intention of explaining, Jongin stood too, panicked.  “Luhan! At least give me a clue!” 

“Kyungsoo!” Luhan shouted back, already breaking down into laughter, and then he disappeared through the library door. Jongin stared after him, flabbergasted. 

Really, he had not the slightest idea what Luhan meant by that. 

…Right? 

-

Sehun dragged his hands distractedly along the edge of his textbooks, tuning into every other word or so of his friends’ conversation. Baekhyun was doing a painfully terrible impression of the Maths teacher for a laughing Kyungsoo, talking a mile a minute in monotone. They had another fifteen minutes until the next class was to start, and the KAE students were spending them lounging in the hallway that separated the classrooms from the training centre, large bay windows making their shadows harsh against the plush walls. Sehun was perched on one of the many long couches, letting the sunlight from the windows bathe his face in a golden glow.

Kris sat beside him, shoulders tense with agitation. He was displaying his usual sullen silence, amplified somehow by Baekhyun and Kyungsoo laughing a few feet away. Yixing was slumped against him, his eyes closed and possibly sleeping, but unmoving Kris seemed unaware of his presence, gaze fixed into the distance. A common sight over the past few months. Kris always seemed to be preoccupied with something else- personally Sehun thought he hadn’t taken the transition to the Academy very well.   

It didn’t help that the person who Kris was closest to out of the KAE students, Minseok, was missing. He had been absent from various classes for the past few days, gone working and talking with the principal. He was already getting recognition, even after three months. 

The same could not be said for Sehun. He hated to admit he was struggling, but the intensity of the program was starting to get to him. He was rightly exhausted, and the thought of enduring another class was painful. He would follow Yixing’s lead and try to nap now, but he didn’t have the balls to fall asleep against Kris. Instead he resorted to playing with his textbooks, trying and failing to study. 

He thought again of the Guarders, missing from afternoon classes due to their training schedules. Although it had only been a few months, the KAE students seemed to be lacking when their Guarders weren’t with them. Classes with just the six of them were so much harder than the ones with all twelve. 

In particular Sehun yearned to talk to Jongin, who had been especially understanding of his situation when it came to schoolwork. He had been nothing sort of a saviour in Maths. 

There was, of course, another face he would not mind seeing. 

Sehun wondered if maybe his brain was exceptionally sensitive, because since the Telepathic had first introduced himself inside his mind, he hadn’t been able to get him off his thoughts. His elfin face, his demure smile, the way his blazer sleeves were just a little bit too long- so impossibly lovely. 

He had tried to ask his Guarder more questions about Luhan, but Tao seemed to have an immaculate talent of constantly changing IQ. When it came to any personal questions about him or his fellow Guarders, it seemed to drop to number well below 60. 

As he fiddled with his textbooks watching Kyungsoo groan at Baekhyun’s terrible jokes, it struck Sehun that there was another way his inquiries about Luhan could be easily answered. 

All he had to do was ask somebody else. Like Jongin. 

At this idea, suddenly Sehun wasn’t so exhausted anymore. Even the thought of learning more about the pretty Telepathic was enough to make him feel more alive. 

-

Kris followed Junmyeon, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. His eyes would not waver from the ground, watching his Guarder’s shiny black shoes take step after quick step. All he could think about was sleep. It was finally the weekend, and a whole two days without classes stretched out gloriously in front of him. But first he had to get through this. 

“There they are!” came Jongin’s voice. The hallway opened into a large space, revealing the other ten students lounging about on the common room couches. “We were taking bets on why you were late, Junmyeon.”

“I opted for detention,” Baekhyun chimed in, which earned him an appreciative chuckle from the others. Kris struggled not to roll his eyes, instead taking his seat next to a flustered Junmyeon in front of the TV, his eyes still cast down. 

The others began to chat, mostly ignoring the drama playing on the wall-length screen. They had one of these evenings every week, where the Guarders were off training and instead encouraged to ‘mingle’ with the others. Kris wasn’t really sure when they had turned into movie nights, but he had no complaints. It allowed him to pretend to watch instead of talking to the others, which he was currently avoiding at all costs. 

Focus, he thought dully, fingering one of his several rings. This particular one had been gifted to him by his father before he had left for the Academy, embossed with a shining silver dragon. It was his father's voice that spoke in his thoughts, quietly urging him on. Focus. It’ll be over soon.

He caught a sliver of reflected TV light in his peripheral and felt his chest tighten. Don’t look, he tried to tell himself, his father's voice fading away, but it was too late. His gaze slid to the right, fingers growing tighter around his ring. It was the metal boy, squeezing and unsqueezing his shiny joints just feet away, casting light in patterns upon the hardwood floor. Like Kris, Tao’s head was dropped downward, his blonde hair falling elegantly just in front of his eyes. As if sensing someone watching him, Tao's eyes shifted, his gaze meeting Kris. For a second they shared a moment of horrible eye contact. Kris swallowed, his jaw tightening into a sneer, and he turned away. 

Focus.

-

“Please!” 

Jongdae and the other Guarders winced collectively. His body buzzed with agitation, and he felt so sick with electric consummation that it was all he could do not to scream with the voice. The word was followed with another inhuman wail, starting low and then splitting into a screech. The Guarders had been standing in an anxious semi-circle facing the locked door since training had ended, so close their shoulders were touching. Almost every day for the past week Luhan had been kept after hours for extra simulation practice. They had always patiently waited for him, but this was the first time that they had heard him scream. 

“This is ridiculous,” Jongin muttered for what felt like the thousandth time. As the minutes had ticked by he had grown only more and more restless. Jongdae was keeping an eye on his clenching fists, one of the telltale signs that he was about to teleport. Junmyeon had put a reassuring hand on Jongin's shoulder, but even he looked worried, the first signs of distress showing in his eyes. Jongdae glanced back at the shut training room door, his hands shaking. The energy from the room was almost consuming him, but he was doing his best not to let it show. This was the first time he had sensed something like this during Luhan’s after training sessions, but he hadn’t told the others. There was nothing they could do, and he didn’t think it would help their states if they knew that Luhan was not just locked in the training room, but was literally drowning in electricity. Jongdae had no idea what it meant, but he knew that the sheer amount of energy in that room could be the sole source of the Telepathic’s screams. 

“It’s been twenty minutes,” Jongin said between grit teeth. “What could they be doing to him?”

“He's training,” Tao said from beside him, his voice low. Jongdae turned to look at him. Tao’s stance was totally relaxed, his face serene despite Luhan’s freakish screams. It was unnerving, but Jongdae knew as well as the others that Tao was desensitized only because he had likely experienced way worse than what Luhan was currently going through. 

“This is torture,” Jongin spit, shifting from side to side. “I can’t listen to this.”

“Then leave,” Tao said, his face even. 

“Tao,” Chanyeol said in protest, but made no real effort to reprimand him. None of them really could get angry at Tao right now, not with the Cuff over his hand. 

“No!” the inhuman voice wailed, and Jongdae closed his eyes. 

“That’s it,” Jongin snapped. “I’m going in. This isn’t fucking training. They have to stop.” He shook Junmyeon’s hand off his shoulder, stepping forward with resolution.

“Jongin,” Jongdae said suddenly, and stuck a panicked arm out to stop him. A wave of nauseating electricity ran down his body, stopping just short of his fingers. “Jongin, I wouldn’t advise that.” He felt Tao shift beside him in surprise. 

“And why’s that?” Jongin growled, reaching for the door. Jongdae grabbed for his hand, at first thinking he might be able to just physically intimidate Jongin enough to step back, but his aggression seemed to only anger Jongin further. “For fuck’s sake, Jongdae-”

“The energy,” Jongdae interrupted him firmly, and felt his own fingers begin to spark as he said the word. “You can’t go in Jongin, I mean it.”

“The hell does that mean?” Jongin demanded, exasperated. “The energy?” He tried to reach for the door again, but this time Chanyeol and Junmyeon held him back, seeming to understand a bit better what Jongdae had meant. 

“It’s too dangerous,” Jongdae said faintly, lifting his sparking fingers from Jongin’s chest. “I...I don’t know what they’re doing, but it’s too dangerous.” He fought for his words, glancing at Tao out of the corner of his eye. “The amount of energy in that room...it could kill you.” 

“Then what exactly is it doing to Luhan?” Jongin spit out, still struggling against Chanyeol and Junmyeon. Jongdae turned to Tao, as if seeking an answer, but he simply shook his head. At this Jongin practically growled in frustration, his agitation spilling over the edge. “Let go of me!” he shouted, ripping his arms frantically from the others’ grips. Jongdae tried to block his flailing hands, the sparking in his body becoming overwhelming. Jongin screeched, his fists began to tighten, and Jongdae felt himself go into overdrive, launching himself at Jongin as if it would stop him from straight up teleporting himself into death. 

“Jongin, listen to him!” Junmyeon was shouting. There was a flurry of yells as the boys fought, not noticing that the screams from the room had gone silent. 

“Stop,” Tao said suddenly, and firmly placed his Cuffed hand on Jongin’s shoulder. At the feeling of metal Jongin finally froze, his chest heaving. There was a moment of silence, and then Tao nodded towards the training door. The handle was twisting. The five boys watched, breathing heavily, and Jongdae felt electric air dissipate around him.

The door opened and Luhan stepped out, closing it quietly behind him. His face was shining lightly with sweat. 

For a moment the five just stared. 

“Lu,” Jongin breathed, sagging from Chanyeol and Junmyeon’s arms. “Jesus, what did they do?” 

Luhan shook his head, his cheeks wet. “Nothing. I’m fine.” Before he could finish the word Jongin had wrapped his arms around him, and the others could not help but follow. Jongdae rested his head against Luhan’s back, feeling the pulse of his ragged breath. Dully he became aware that the Telepathic was sobbing. He pressed his forehead into Luhan, feeling the rest of the Guarders’ silent heartbreak. 

 


	7. Losing it

**A/N: Sorry this took so long.**

 

When Tao didn’t come back in time for curfew it only added to Sehun’s itching anxiety. Already he had spent the last hour making zero headway on any of his Maths, leaving him exuberantly frustrated.

Of course, Sehun was irritated for another reason too. 

He had set out over a week ago to find out more about the Telepath, but the past few days he had barely had a chance to talk to Jongin, not to mention Luhan himself. It had been a painfully slow week without the distraction of that pretty face, and his ridiculous amounts of homework had not helped. And then on top of it all Tao failed to show. It made Sehun decidedly angry, so he got up and went downstairs. 

He wasn’t sure what he was looking for. He knew he wasn’t even allowed to be out of his dorm at this hour, but it was a Friday, so he sure that if he got caught the supervisors would let him off easy. Besides, he couldn’t sit in his room alone and do nothing for a second more. So he padded down the stairs as silent as he could, imagining that he was meeting Luhan in some sort of midnight rendez-vous. 

Baekhyun liked to say that he had a “pretty boy” problem. Sehun always laughed at this, because out of all people Baekhyun was surely not the one to judge him, but he was aware there was a bit of truth in his words. Sehun liked having a conquest. The more unattainable they were, the more desirable. He would fall head over heels in the space of a few days, all because he could not have someone. But when he finally did, his eyes would always begin to wander. It was an ongoing cycle with him- as soon as he managed to catch one boy it was on to the next. 

It seemed nothing had changed, even at the Academy. 

But it infuriated Sehun because he had made zero progress with Luhan. And why shouldn’t he? He was already pretty certain that the few moments he had spent alone with the Telepath had sparked undeniable chemistry- and for Sehun that was usually enough. He was aware he was attractive- all he had to do was make it clear he was interested, and the chase would generally end there. But Luhan remained evasive.

To be fair, the first month he hadn’t actually been trying, but now over a week had passed since Sehun had set his sights on him, and absolutely nothing had happened. Instead he was wandering around the school late at night by himself, painfully aware of how alone he was despite his imaginings. 

He made his way into the cafeteria, intending to see if there was any hot water left for tea. He didn’t dare turn on the lights, instead feeling his way across the wall to the machine, when he crashed right into someone’s shoulder. 

“Sehun?” Jongin’s voice asked through the dark. 

“ _ Jongin? _ ” Sehun asked back automatically. 

“What are you doing down here?” 

“What are  _ you  _ doing down here?” 

He heard Jongin grappling the wall and the lights burst to life. 

“Ow!” Sehun hissed, covering his eyes, and Jongin flipped the switch again, dimming them ever so slightly. He didn’t answer Sehun’s question, instead leaning back against the cafeteria wall with a sigh. 

Sehun peeked at him from between his fingers, struck by his apparent exhaustion, and frowned. Jongin’s white hair created a ghoulish halo about his pale face, his eyes red. His face was blank. 

“Are you okay?” Sehun asked after a moment. Jongin’s eyes shifted to meet his, silent. Sehun bit his lip, a strong feeling overcoming him that he was witnessing something very personal. He hadn’t seen Jongin so raw before, tie askew and misery written up and down his expression. “Want to sit?” he asked the Teleporter, motioning to the dimly illuminated cafeteria chairs.

Jongin shook his head. “I should go to bed,” he said in a faint voice. His eyes darted this way and that. “I told him to go to bed.” 

“Who?” Sehun asked. 

“Luhan,” Jongin answered, still not meeting his gaze, and Sehun felt his breath catch in his throat. “They kept him late for training again...and we told him he should go to bed.”

“What do you mean?” Sehun asked, swallowing dry. His senses came alive with a buzzing excitement. “Is he alright?” 

“I don’t know,” Jongin answered, and a troubled look passed over his face. “I don’t know. I hope he is. But I don’t know.” His eyes slid to meet Sehun’s. “I shouldn’t be talking to you,” he said after a moment. “We should go to bed. Goodnight, Sehun.” He moved to turn the last of the lights off, but Sehun caught his hand. 

“What do you mean you don’t know?” he demanded. “Where is he? Where’s Luhan?” 

Jongin shook his head. “I have to go. We’re not supposed to be up right now.” 

“No one’s caught us yet,” Sehun said, suddenly desperate for more information. All he could think about was Luhan, how his lovely face might be in trouble. “Come on Jongin, just tell me what’s going on. It’s a Friday night. We’re not going to get in trouble for being downstairs a little past nine. It’s a dumb rule anyway.”

“It’s not a good idea to break the rules around here,” Jongin snapped, and he tugged his arm from Sehun’s grasp. Without warning his eyes grew clear, anger flooding his face. “One look at Tao should tell you that.” 

Sehun stepped away, momentarily shocked into silence. “What?” 

“Why do you think he has that Cuff? It’s not just a precaution, it’s a punishment. The Academy doesn’t just do things like that to you, no matter how powerful you are. You earn it.” 

When he saw Sehun’s expression his eyes softened. “I’m going to bed, Sehun. Goodnight.” 

He flipped the lights off and in a moment was gone, footsteps fading down the hallway.

Sehun stood in the dark, confused and excited and angry all at once.

-

A shout of his name awakened Tao. He blinked his eyes slowly open, the white ceiling coming into soft focus above his head.

“Tao,” Sehun said again, his voice impatient. “Are you awake?” 

“I am now,” Tao answered him dryly, and unfolded his hands from his stomach.  He had been so exhausted from training that he had fallen asleep in his full uniform, and the stiff fabric protested as he sat up. “What’s going on? Are we all going out for dinner again?” 

“No,” Sehun said, fidgeting by the door. “It’s only four thirty.”

“Then why did you wake me up?” Tao grumbled, setting his head back on the pillow. The Saturday was almost gone anyway, it couldn’t hurt to sleep through the rest of it. 

“Because,” Sehun snapped, his impatience giving way to excitement. “I need to talk to you. About last night.” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you left after curfew,” Tao said, rolling his eyes. He had arrived last night expecting to find Sehun fast asleep, but his bed had been in fact empty. While this was irritating, Tao had been too tired from the day’s events to care. He had reached his limits of worrying, and after hearing Luhan’s screams, concerns over an empty bed paled in comparison. 

“Thanks,” Sehun said, although to Tao he didn’t sound thankful at all. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I want to know what’s going on with Luhan.”

Tao paused, his head hovering above his covers.  _ How did he even know?  _ The Guarder had sludged through the day attempting to forget last night’s ordeal, and the last thing he wanted to do was discuss it with Sehun. For a moment he considered pretending he had already fallen asleep, but then turned, resolute. “What?”

“Luhan,” Sehun repeated, his eyes going tense. “Jongin said that he’s been struggling lately. That...that all of you have. I just want you to tell me what’s going on.”

Tao couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.  _ Jongin.  _ “And why exactly is that my responsibility?” 

Sehun’s face scrunched. “Because you’re my Guarder? And you should tell me what’s going on with you? We are supposed to have a lifelong bond, you know.” 

Tao swept his eyes over Sehun’s lank frame, feeling himself become equal parts amused and irritated. He hated people giving him sass, but there was something endearing about Sehun’s quivering lips. “Believe it or not, I am aware.” With that, he began to turn away, pulling his covers up over his body.

There was a moment of silence during which Tao briefly thought that Sehun had walked away. But then-

“Godammnit, Tao!” Sehun lunged forward, yanking the bedsheets down again. “This is not how this goes! We’re partners here, okay? I’m so sick of you pretending I’m too stupid to know the answers to anything! I’m not a child, you’re not my fucking babysitter!” 

Tao twisted upright, standing up in one surprised solid movement. “Except I am! My job is to protect you, Sehun. You can’t even begin to understand the danger that we go through in order keep you safe.”

“Then tell me!” Sehun hurled back, his voice cracking in anger. Tao stared at him, his fingers twitching. “Just fucking tell me,” Sehun said again. “That’s all it’ll take for me to understand, Tao.” 

Tao still said nothing, his metal joints squeezing and unsqueezing. 

“Can’t you trust me?” Sehun asked, sounding exhausted. “At all?” 

“I do trust you,” Tao answered. “It’s you who doesn’t trust me.”

“I would if you just talked honestly to me,” Sehun replied, but the snark was gone. “You never share anything meaningful with me. How am I supposed to trust someone that I barely know?”

“Tough talk from a guy who can’t even tell me that he’s in love,” Tao said dryly. At this Sehun looked up, his eyebrows furrowing.

“What?”

“I’m not stupid either, Sehun,” Tao shrugged. “I can see what’s going on with you and Lu.” 

This was met with silence. Sehun took a few steps back, seemingly struggling to speak. “That- I-we-”

Tao put up a hand. “You already care about him more than me,” he said, feeling the truth of the words as he said them. 

“That’s not true,” Sehun said immediately, but he was avoiding Tao’s eyes. “I don’t  _ love _ him. I barely know him either.” 

“You asked about him first,” Tao shrugged. “Look, maybe you don’t think it’s any of my business, but my job  _ is _ to keep you safe. And for the record, I don’t think it’s a safe idea to go after him.” 

“Why not?” Sehun demanded. 

Tao shrugged. “Everything is considered an offense around here. And you don’t want to get punished.” 

Sehun’s eyes turned angry. “Like you?” he shot back. 

Tao paused. There was silence for a few moments, and he felt his fists tighten, the metal groaning softly as he brought his fingers inwards. 

“I didn’t mean that,” Sehun said, his eyes darting down. “I just- I heard-”

“You heard what?” Tao demanded, watching him shuffle his feet. 

“I just heard that that’s why you have the Cuff,” he mumbled. “That’s all.” 

Again Tao was silent. He knew if he said anything right then his words would be too tinted with anger. 

“I’m going to go get some tea,” Sehun said after a second, and turned away. 

-

“I don’t understand,” Jongdae said for the fifteenth time, pushing his sliding glasses back up his nose. He knelt back against the bed. “A log isn’t even a  _ number _ . I thought exponents were hard and now they’re just throwing in tree parts.” 

Yixing couldn’t help but laugh, setting the textbook down. “Okay. We’ll take a break.” 

“No,” Jongdae said with a sigh. “I need to finish this. Explain it again.” He bent back over his books, brows furrowing, gnawing on his lip in concentration. 

Yixing smiled. It was these moments that he found himself genuinely liking his Guarder; the rare seconds where he was calm and focused and attentive. Yixing found that these times were far and few between, and occurred only when they were alone. In the presence of Baekhyun or Chanyeol or Tao or anyone really, Jongdae became energetic to the point of unbearable. At least for Yixing’s taste. 

“Okay,” he said. “Here. A log is just another form of an exponent, look.” He explained and watched as Jongdae scratched the numbers onto his paper, the utmost concentration in his eyes, his shoulderblades taut with tension. Yixing pulled his laptop from the his bedside table. “Let me show you something,” he murmured, flipping it open. “Maybe it’ll help.” 

Jongdae glanced up, his glasses sliding down his nose again. “Okay-”

Without warning, his hands burst to life, an electric bolt of blue coming loose with a  _ bang.  _ Yixing yelped, folding inwards as heat struck the side of his jacket. His laptop went crashing to the ground. Their Math books flew across the room, smacking against the wall before they landed on the floor with heavy thuds. 

“Yixing?” Jongdae shouted, in a panic. His fingers sparked again, once, then twice, then went out. “Yixing, are you okay?” He knelt over him, hands waving in the air, afraid to touch him. “Yixing?” The air buzzed in an electric hum. 

“I’m fine,” Yixing managed, his fingers going to the singed edge of his jacket. His head was spinning, but he forced himself to meet Jongdae’s gaze. “I’m fine. What just happened?” 

“I’m so sorry,” Jongdae fumbled, squeezing his fists together. “That-that was an accident. I lost control for a second, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine,” Yixing silenced him gently. He reached for where his laptop had fallen, fingers shaking, forcing himself to take a breath. “It’s not broken,” he said after a minute, at once relieved. But when he looked back up with a smile, Jongdae was crying. 

Yixing froze. He had never seen Jongdae in such a state- his Guarder was always trying so hard to look like he didn’t care about anything, like he was wild and unpredictable and not affected by what anyone else thought. Tears didn’t make sense on him. 

“Hey,” Yixing finally managed to say. “Jongdae, it’s fine, really.” 

“It’s really not,” Jongdae answered, removing his glasses to haphazardly swipe a hand across his cheek. “I could have hurt you.” 

“But you didn’t,” Yixing said. 

Jongdae made no reply. 

Unable to think of anything else to say, Yixing wrapped an arm around his shoulders, the Guarder’s body trembling against his. They stayed like that for a moment, Yixing’s thoughts darting this way and that. Jongdae was right, of course. He could have been killed. He had thought that Jongdae was dangerous before, but he had never seen him lose control like that. There hadn’t even seemed to be a trigger for his outburst- the laptop, maybe? He had no idea how these things worked. The rare times Yixing had ever seen Jongdae use his powers he had been in perfect poised control, the electric shocks flowing in pretty patterns from his fingers.  

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae broke the silence after a moment. He had stopped crying, his hands pressed together underneath his chin. 

“Are you alright?” Yixing asked, with slight hesitation. “Is there...something going on?” 

“What do you mean?” Jongdae replied stonily. 

“You came back late last night,” Yixing pointed out. “And like...that just happened. Is something bothering you? Training?” 

Jongdae’s eyes flitted away. “Well...yeah.” 

Yixing felt his eyebrows raise. He hadn’t expected Jongdae to admit to that so easily. “Do you...want to talk about it?” he asked. 

Jongdae was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again his voice was steely. “All I’ll say is this. I knew the Academy was shitty before, but after last night...” he shook his head, and Yixing could see the beginning of anger in his eyes. “I don’t know what they’re doing, but it’s not anything good.” He turned to look at Yixing. “I’m sorry you got dragged into all of this, honestly,” he said. 

Yixing raised an eyebrow. “What?” 

“It would have been better if you never came,” Jongdae said, his jaw set. Yixing recoiled, hurt, but Jongdae shook his head. “I say that because I care about you, Yixing. This place can break people. It’s just that none of you have realized it yet.” He looked down, bitter. “You’re too good for this place.” 

There was silence. Yixing couldn’t even fathom the beginning of an answer. 

“Again, I’m sorry,” Jongdae said, standing up to retrieve the fallen textbooks. He kept his face turned away, wouldn’t meet Yixing’s eyes. “This won’t happen again.”

 

 


	8. Perfect

The Guarders had been given new training schedules. When they were first announced the six had not dared protest, but it had been a while since and now the reality of three extra daily training hours was setting in. Waiting in their empty classroom for the next lesson to start, KAE students at their sides, the complaints were coming out in full force.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Jongin was saying. “They bring you guys here so that we have a chance to bond, and then they take away all the time we have together.”

Tao found this rather ironic, considering that before the KAE students had arrived Jongin had been the biggest protester to it all. He supposed Kyungsoo had managed to change his stance.

“It’s stupid,” Jongdae said, in his usual blunt way. “This whole thing is stupid.”

Tao himself was privately not wholly opposed to the new schedules. He was in fact excited, because even though yes, the Guarders had been given more hours, it was also announced that they would begin training privately. And for Tao, that meant that maybe, just maybe, they’d finally let him train without the Cuff.

He flexed his fingers, the metal squealing as he did so. He used to protest its purpose during group simulations, and the trainers would tell him over and over again that they would not remove it in a group setting. That he would have to be in simulation alone for them to allow such a thing.

And finally, after all these years, one-on-one training was put into his schedule. So, he welcomed the change with open arms. But it would look bad to say that, so he stayed silent, watching the others get angry knowing they would do absolutely nothing about it. None of them would dare question the Academy’s decisions outside of a closed room.

Luhan was the only other one who didn’t participate in the discussion, but Tao couldn’t gauge his thoughts on it at all. After the whole incident after training a few weeks ago, Luhan had a permanently stoic expression on his face. Even though the others had tried to get him to talk, the most he would say about his screaming was that he didn’t remember it happening. That they had just been testing a new simulation which had been particularly awful, but that he was fine.

None of them believed it, especially after Jongdae had freaked. But Luhan was staying quiet about it, and the others knew well enough than to push him. He had enough to deal with without their questioning.

Out of the corner of his eye Tao could make out Sehun, his gaze invariably on the Telepath. Since their argument Sehun had been giving him the silent treatment, which Tao could not be bothered to fight back against. Let him be a child. Tao wasn’t apologizing. He had nothing to be sorry for.

It was also quite apparent that Sehun was not taking his advice into account. Every opportunity he got the boy was glued to Luhan’s side, like a blond magnet. But Luhan didn’t appear bothered by it- Minseok had been away so much that Tao supposed he couldn’t help but enjoy the company.

Fine. Tao wasn’t going to stop it. He was well aware that if he even tried, Sehun would just want the Telepath even more. Besides, he was sure that his intervention wasn’t needed. Luhan wouldn’t be careless enough to allow something to happen. He permitted Sehun’s friendship, but Tao was certain it stopped there. Luhan had bigger things to worry about.

And anyway, so did Tao. His first individual training was only twenty four hours away.

He flexed the metal hand again, and it squealed once more in dull protest. From across the room Kris’s head snapped up, a faint sneer on his face. Tao met his gaze levelly, half amused. Yet another KAE boy that thought he owned the world.

At Tao’s acknowledgment Kris’s mouth widened into a full fledged contempt, his eyes narrowing to slits. Tao decided right then and there that if he ever got the Cuff off Kris would be the first one to be taught a lesson.

He folded his fingers to a fist, slipping the cool metal back into his pocket.

-

“What the _fuck!_ ” Jongin screamed.

The words were out before he could even think. His body was red hot, his vision shaking and blurring as the world came back into focus around him. The supervisors were momentarily shocked into silence, and in it Jongin ripped the sensors from his skin, frustration too wild to let him consider his actions.

Within a moment he had sped past them out the training room doors, ignoring the supervisor’s mouth widening into a reprimand.

He was running, feet pounding against the linoleum, taking him out of the training wing and through the cafeteria, all the way across to the staircase that lead to their dorm rooms.

Only when he was halfway up the stairs did he pause for even a fraction of a second, out of breath, but it was enough. All at once he collapsed against the railing, his body giving beneath him, his exhale hitching in his throat.

What had he just done?

It was not the first time he had messed up this terribly in a training session. But it was definitely the first time he had run out without permission.

His hands were shaking. He brought them over his face, trying to force down the oncoming sobs. True, the training had been absolutely brutal. Since the implementation of private training Jongin had been struggling. This was the twenty-fifth time he had run the same simulation and once again he had failed. In that one instant it had become all too much, an his frustration had overflowed, in fact erupted with violent force. But why couldn't have he just stayed in the room? Tried to suppress his  anger for even a second?

Someone must be coming for him. This thought gave him a start, and his head snapped to look back from where he had come, but there was no one. No one at all.

Maybe they hadn’t seen where he was going. It didn’t matter, not now. He was getting detention anyhow.

Slowly Jongin stood, trying to steady his trembling legs. Then he forced himself the rest of the way up the staircase, reaching his dorm door with a heart full of fire.

-

Tao burst into consciousness, gasping for breath. Jongin’s scream echoed from the next room over, hanging heavy and hot in the air.

For a moment Tao was unsure what had happened, his breath still coming in heavy pants. At once the supervisors were at his side, murmuring apologies, just as confused as he about the sudden halt in the system. But then Tao heard the sound of a door slam, and couldn’t help but feel a smile twitch at his lips.

So Jongin had run out, then.

Tao couldn’t blame him. Everyone had been complaining about the hours lately, irritated over the sudden jump in simulation difficulty. And, of course, the war updates had been coming hot and fast the past week, their Academy fortress suddenly feeling much closer to the fight than before. Most of them were running on five hours of sleep or less each day.

For Tao though, it was worth it.

He glanced down at his left hand, the wires giving just enough to allow him to bend his chin. He paid no heed to the supervisors rearranging his sensors, gaze focused downward.

His hand was bare. For the third time this week.

It was simply glorious.

Skin, real skin, even if it was bruised purple and blue, it was _skin_ that met his eyes, and not metal. The mere sight of it was intoxicating, sending a hum of pleasure up his body.

Tao’s eyes slid to the right, to the table behind one of the supervisors. There the Cuff sat, stoic and gleaming under the florescent lights. Off of his hand, it was nothing but a hunk of metal.

And beside it, the Key.

If only he could get to it.

Even as he thought this Tao knew it was wrong. The Key, the one contraption that could open the Cuff, sitting right there in plain sight. But never for Tao to touch, never for him to control. That kind of freedom was not an option in the Academy, least of all for him.

And of course, it wasn’t that simple. Despite his careful watching, he was still not quite sure how the Key worked, did not know the intricacies of the process that made his Cuff unlock. But he was trying- every time they took the damned thing off of his hand he had paid close attention, doing his best to detail each step in his mind.

“Okay,” one of the supervisors said, finished fiddling with his wiring. “Are you ready?”

Despite himself, Tao smiled. “Yes,” he answered, and closed his eyes, letting himself slip back into simulation, the only place where the force of his powers were untamed, wild and coursing with years of held-back strength at his fingertips.

-

Kyungsoo looked up from his bed, expecting Baekhyun, but mildly surprised to see Jongin instead at the entrance to his room. His Guarder appeared equally surprised to see Kyungsoo, body freezing in the door frame.

“Jongin?” Kyungsoo asked, instantly concerned. His Guarder looked absolutely terrible. His face was red, eyes distressed, fingers shaking. “What’s going on?”

“Why are you here?” Jongin asked abruptly instead of answering. “Don’t you have class?”

“English just ended,” Kyungsoo said, beginning to rise from the mattress. He lowered his phone, which was playing updates once again about the Pythia. He approached Jongin with hesitant steps. “Jongin, are you okay?”

Jongin said nothing for a moment. He looked, Kyungsoo thought, utterly defeated. He was well aware of how tough things had gotten for Jongin and the rest of the Guarders in the past few weeks, but he also knew that his training session wasn’t over for another hour. Something was really wrong.

“I left,” Jongin said, and stepped fully into the room, letting the door snap shut behind him. “I’m not going back, not today.” He said it with such force that Kyungsoo had no choice to nod, leading him to sit on the edge of his bed. The intensity in his face made him stay quiet. For a moment they just sat there, the silence heavy and uncomfortable between them.

And then Jongin looked at him, the most queer expression in his eyes. Kyungsoo felt his heart beat a little faster.

“Can we...” Jongin began, and then closed his eyes, cutting himself off. When he reopened them his voice had hardened into calm steel. “Can we just sit for a moment? Sit and talk?” His eyes flitted back to Kyungsoo’s, bright and pleading.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said, trying not to let his concern bleed into his reply. “What about?”

“Anything,” Jongin said, closing his eyes again. He let himself fall back against the bed, arms spreading wide. “Anything. Just not school. Please.”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said again, watching Jongin’s uniform move with his torso. “Tell me about your dogs.”

A ghost of a smile flitted across his Guarder’s lips.

-

Kyungsoo stared up at the ceiling, shoulders brushing Jongin’s.

They had been talking for nearly an hour. They were both supposed to be in Math now, but the alarm they had set had came and passed. No one had come to look for them. Even if they came now Jongin didn’t care. He was feeling so pleasant in that moment that the idea of detention didn’t even deter him.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes, a small smile on his parted lips.

Jongin realized with a start that he wanted to kiss him.

The thought shocked him into momentary confusion, his heart actually stopping in his chest. And then all at once he remembered Luhan, he remembered him flowing out of the library with his white robes, he remembered his ringing laugh as he walked away.

 _“You’re wrong,”_ Luhan had said that day. _“You’re wrong, it’s exactly the same. Kyungsoo!”_

Was it the same? Jongin tried to calm his racing thoughts, sort out what exactly it was that he wanted. Was it the same right now, the same as it had been with Luhan so many years ago?

No, he realized. Of course it wasn’t. Because with Luhan it had been meaningless, something they had done to pass the time when it was late at night and they were bored in their shared dorm room. It had had been nothing more than that and nothing less.

But with Kyungsoo- with Kyungsoo it was not meaningless. Jongin wanted to kiss him, not because he was bored, not because he wanted to pass the time, but because it was _Kyungsoo._ Because he had made him laugh and smile and forget everything for the past hour. Because he had been kind and gentle right from the start. Because with him the world no longer felt war ravaged and terrifying. Because he was always awake to welcome Jongin back to his dorm, always to ask him how his training had gone, with genuine concern, and wish him a good night.

And now Jongin was sure he could not deny how he felt about him. It seemed obvious now, as he lay, watching Kyungsoo’s chest move up and down with ease. He was so unbelievably beautiful. How had he not realized it before? He almost could not remember what was it like before he had thought that Kyungsoo was gorgeous. And watching him rest beside him, his eyes wide and blinking up at nothing, it was almost painfully euphoric.

“Kyungsoo,” Jongin said softly, breath unconsciously slowing.

Kyungsoo tilted his head towards him, the small smile widening slightly. “Jongin,” he answered. Jongin stared at him just long enough to see Kyungsoo’s eyebrows shift into a slight frown. There. He saw it, whatever it was. He knew.

Perhaps that was what convinced Jongin to do it. Later, he would think and could not remember for the life of him what had given him the bravery. But he thought perhaps that was it-the way that something had changed in Kyungsoo’s soft brown eyes, sensing that he wanted something... something _else_.

Jongin leaned over just slightly-they were only inches apart anyway- and gently kissed him on the mouth.

At first Kyungsoo didn’t react, and something inside of him froze cold, but then…but then. There was a soft pressure, and he was kissing him back. It only lasted a few seconds, too short. It was warm, hesitant, a kiss that lasted barely longer than a couple blinks- yet it was perfect.

When they drew away, Kyungsoo’s eyes were even wider then before, surprised and faintly happy. His mouth was still in that smile, and a slight blush coloured his cheeks. “Jongin?” he asked, his voice lilting and gentle.

“Kyungsoo?” he asked back, in that same teasing tone, and they both began to laugh, at first shyly and then as they had laughed a thousand times before.

From somewhere beside him he felt the brush of Kyungsoo’s hand against his, and the fingers slowly interlaced.

Perfect.

 

**A/N: Sorry this is so focused on certain characters right now, it's hard to flesh out 12 different plotlines all at once aha. Other members will get their chance to shine soon enough, I promise :)**


	9. Matched

**A/N: Betcha thought I forgot about this. I did. :)**

 

 

 

Luhan was being ripped apart. His skin was tearing, screaming, into a million tiny pieces, forced outward by a magic he could not explain. His mouth was open in one endless, shrill cry of agony, and all he could do was close his eyes before the world broke around him, pixels feathering up and down his body.

He awoke in the plastic blue chairs, still screaming. For a moment he couldn’t place where he was, sheer panic from the simulation still coursing through his hot veins. His body was on fire. He became dully aware that he was thrashing about, the supervisors gripping him in their cold wooden hands, forcing him back into the chair.

“Luhan!” one of them shouted, slamming his shoulder against the plastic, and he felt his whole body coil inward at the impact. He closed his eyes, crying, his scream hitching in his throat.

He reopened them to the white of the ceiling, rows and rows of perfect tile. His body was still shaking, his very skin cells still feeling stretched and torn. “It’s over,” one of the supervisors was saying. “The simulation is over, Luhan.”

“I don’t understand,” he choked out in reply, all at once exhausted. This wasn’t right- he had beat the simulation, he knew he had, he had done everything they had asked of him, and yet still was slapped with failure. He went limp in the chair, finally letting the supervisors remove the sensory discs from his sweating skin. “I did it that time. I did it, why did I still fail, I don’t-”

“You did much better, Luhan,” one of them said calmly. “You are making good progress. You just need to make more.”

Luhan couldn’t find it in him to argue back. All he wanted was to get out of the plastic chair, get out of the white room, and go curl up on his bed. He closed his eyes again, fighting back a fresh wave of tears.

When he was allowed to leave he went straight to his dorm room. He hoped for a blind second that Minseok would be there, and perhaps give him some comfort over a warm cup of lilac tea, but as expected the KAE student was nowhere to be found. Off with the principal again, Luhan supposed. As he always was these days.

Luhan dragged himself over to his bed, barely having the energy to do so without collapsing. He buried his face into his hands, a wave of loneliness crushing him into a pool of blue. He wanted someone. Minseok, but someone else would do too. Jongin. Sehun, even.

Luhan felt his chest tighten.

He was a Telepath, and although he made it a principal to not invade upon his friends’ thoughts, lately Sehun’s aura had been so strong around him that Luhan couldn’t have missed it even if he tried. He could practically see the emotion pouring off that boy in waves, the sweet scent of nervousness undercut darkly with...with desire.

His insides twisted at the thought of it, of the heat that Sehun brought with him. He was wrong to even acknowledge it, to even let it cross his mind at all. But he liked Sehun, and it seemed cruel to turn him away. There was a cockiness about him, but also sweetness that Luhan found rather endearing. Besides, the boy had no idea that Luhan knew.

He was too tired to think about all this right now. All he wanted was some sleep. And maybe some tea.

 

-

 

“Jongin?”

“Yeah?” Jongin answered Kyungsoo’s whisper.

They were wrapped up into each other on Kyungsoo’s bed, Jongin on the edge of sleep. It had become a familiar sight for Kyungsoo in the past couple weeks. They didn’t talk about this during the day, wouldn’t so much as brush each others’ fingertips when sharing a textbook in Maths, but at night they unraveled, spooling out and winding round each other with the security of solitude. Sleep would eventually take them, and then Jongin would rise for his early morning practice, silent so Kyungsoo wouldn’t wake. It didn’t usually work- Kyungsoo was a light sleeper. But he would remain still, not wanting to make Jongin late, and just listen to his movement around the room. Always he would gift Kyungsoo a butterfly-soft kiss on his forehead before shutting the door with a soft click and leaving Kyungsoo truly alone.

Jongin reached out blindly with his mouth, pressing his lips into Kyungsoo’s hair. “What’s up?”

Kyungsoo shifted, pushing himself up so he could meet Jongin’s eyes. His throat felt thick. “Jongin-I...we need to talk about something.”

Jongin blinked himself awake, perhaps hearing the tension in Kyungsoo’s voice. “Talk? About what?”

Kyungsoo felt his eyes drop, his teeth gnawing on his lip. He had rehearsed this conversation in his head countless times, chosen the exact words and tone he would take, but he was overcome by the way Jongin was looking at him, that inquisitive, concerned gaze.

“I...” he began. He had always been good at public speaking, his father had made it so. But even though he only had an audience of one, he felt dizzy with nerves.

He paused to take another deep breath, and then pushed it all out in one exhale. “I really like what we have going on here, and I’m so grateful with the way things turned out, with you...and with us. Truly, I am, Jongin, but my father...I know he wouldn’t approve. He would hate me if he found out about us, and I don’t mean that lightly. If he knew about us, he would probably disenroll me, or at least make sure you weren’t my Guarder anymore. So we need to keep this a secret. We can’t tell anyone.”

There was a quiet for a moment, and Kyungsoo felt himself still avoiding Jongin’s gaze. He forced the tension out from his fingers, his hands going from fists to soft against Jongin’s chest.

“Okay,” Jongin said, gentle. “We’ll keep it a secret.”

Kyungsoo raised his gaze, feeling a whoosh of anxiety leave his body. “Thank you,” he said steadily. “You’re not...mad, are you?”

Jongin smiled, his head falling back against the pillow. “Of course not. I didn’t think the Academy would be too happy about it either, and knowing the rest of the boys...” he let out a small laugh. “I thought it was best we kept it a secret anyway.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said. “Okay.” He let his fingers trail past Jongin’s chest and over his shoulders, pulling him in as close as he could.

 

-

 

Sehun didn’t knock. Instead he turned the doorknob to Minseok’s dorm room and walked in without a thought, hands full of books.

“Hey Minseok, here’s your- oh,” he stopped. He had forgotten that Minseok shared a room with Luhan. The Telepath sat on the left bed, his head popping up at the sound of Sehun’s voice from where it had been resting in his hands. His eyes were wide with surprise. And tears.

“I-uh, I’m sorry,” Sehun fumbled, taken aback at the sight of Luhan’s wet cheeks. “He said he would be here. I was just dropping these off. These books. For...for Minseok.”

In Luhan’s silence he turned quickly, dumping the textbooks awkwardly onto Minseok’s bed. “Do you, uh, know where he is?” Sehun asked.

“Meeting with the principal,” Luhan answered, his voice steady even though it was obvious he had been crying moments earlier.

Sehun turned to face him. The Telepath had resumed his perfect posture, his eyes shining, watching Sehun with an absolutely unreadable expression. He should leave, now, but he was frozen, the Telepath’s gaze keeping him in place. “Are you okay?” Sehun asked, unable to stop himself.

Luhan didn’t answer, but Sehun could see his lip trembling. Before he could think his feet were carrying him across the room, and he sat down next to Luhan on the bed, their shoulders barely brushing. Luhan stayed staring straight ahead.

“I’ve heard that training has been stressful lately,” Sehun said carefully, after a moment of silence. “Do you want to talk about it?”

To his surprise, Luhan actually answered. "Not really.” He turned to meet Sehun’s eyes, stress and exhaustion seeping from every corner of his angelic face. “I’ll be okay, in a bit.”

Sehun blinked, entranced. _For the record, I don’t think it’s a safe idea to go after him _,__ Tao’s voice whispered in his head.

Luhan’s shoulders were trembling.

The voice was gone.

"Maybe I can help," Sehun murmured, and without another thought reached over to work his fingers around Luhan’s shoulders.

Luhan didn’t react, not even a flinch.

 _Fuck it,_ Sehun thought, not even sure what he was doing, and pressed downwards, attempting to massage the tension out from his body. At first the Telepathic froze, turning to him, not sure what to make of his touch, but then Sehun felt him slowly relax, the muscles going slack beneath his fingers.

Sehun felt light headed. Luhan had turned his chin to the side, gaze focused on Sehun’s hand on his shoulder. Sehun watched his expression, going from blank to a small smile, his eyelids fluttering closed. Lovely. Sehun could only manage massaging a minute or so more, knowing if he went any longer he was going to end up doing something stupid.

He couldn’t help but trail ghosts down Luhan’s back when he was done, not wanting his fingers to break contact. Too soon his hands came back to the bedsheets, pinkie barely brushing the Telepath’s.

Luhan watched him silently, eyes shifting up as their skin met. Sehun jerked his head around, taking his arm with him. "Sorry," he murmured, feeling his face color.

"It's alright," Luhan said quietly. "It felt good."

Sehun glanced at him. "Really?"

"Sure," Luhan said, a ghost of a smile on his pretty lips. "I like massages. And you have...good hands. You didn't have to stop."

Sehun stared, trying his best to keep his face straight. Was the Telepath... _flirting_ with him? "Fine then," he said after a moment, lifting his chin. "Turn around."

Luhan raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I said turn around."

Luhan looked as if he was fighting a laugh, but he turned anyways, allowing Sehun to place his hands over both shoulders.

"You have ridiculously tight shoulders," Sehun said dryly, his heart beating a mile a minute.

"Hmm," Luhan said by way of answer. “Not surprised." He let out a loud breath, completely relaxing beneath Sehun’s fingers. There was a comfortable silence, and Sehun engrossed himself with the task at hand. “I have been very stressed out.”

"What?" Sehun asked, jerking up at Luhan’s voice.

Luhan laughed, and gently removed Sehun’s hands with his own, turning back to face him. “You were right about training,” he said, the smile fading. “I...I have been very stressed.”

“So you  _do_  want to talk about it,” Sehun said carefully, resting back on his haunches.

“I shouldn’t be,” Luhan said, not looking at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not supposed to talk about my training with any of the KAE students.” Luhan looked up, breathing out towards the ceiling. “Especially someone I’m not even partnered with. But...I can’t tell Minseok. He has too much going on, I don’t want to be a distraction.” He glanced at Sehun, frowning. “I don’t even know how to talk to him about these things. It would upset him.”

“Why?” Sehun asked. “You’re his Guarder, you should be able to talk to him about anything.”

Luhan sighed. “He has too much faith in the Academy. What I’m stressed about- it would…it would taint his faith.” He glanced at Sehun, checking to see his reaction.

Sehun cocked his head, a buzzing feeling of warning starting in his chest. It was a dangerous game to criticize the Academy. “Why is that?” he asked carefully.

Luhan bit his lip, looking down. “It doesn’t matter.” He was quiet for a moment more, before shaking his head. “Thank you though, for being here. I feel a bit better now.” He peered through his eyelashes up at Sehun, the same flirty smile ghosting his lips. “A bit less stressed.”

Something unspoken lay between them. Luhan’s eyes searched his, daring him to say something else.

Sehun swallowed. Now __this__ was something he had experience in. “If only...” he started, becoming intensely aware of how close they were. “If only there was something else I could do to ease your stress.”

For a moment Luhan’s eyes didn’t waver from his. And then they darted down, for a fraction of a second, to his lips.

Sehun didn’t know who leaned in first. He tried his best to remember, after, but couldn’t for the life of him decide. All he knew was that one moment he was looking at Luhan’s lovely face and the next they were kissing, soft and gentle and sweet.

After a few seconds Luhan drew back, prettily flushed. He met Sehun’s gaze again. “That works,” he said. His voice was husky.

Sehun said nothing, almost disbelieving. His lips tingled. Luhan’s face broke into another smile, and in the next second Sehun had him pinned back against the bed, their bodies pressed together in ecstatic hunger.

 

-

 

“So,” Mr. Lee said, his voice overwhelmingly loud in the space of the room. “Mr. Wu.”

Kris bowed his head, at once aware that he was lightly sweating. “Mr. Lee.”

There was silence for a moment, and Kris could feel the principal’s eyes raking into his skin. Taking in everything.

Kris straightened, meeting his gaze head on, unable to keep his fists from tightening in his lap.

“How are you liking things?” Mr. Lee asked, abrupt. “Everything to your taste?”

“It’s all very well, sir,” Kris answered, steady.

“Good,” the principal smiled. He shifted forwards in his chair, stare steely on Kris’s face. “Very good, Mr. Wu.” His eyes drifted to the dragon ring on Kris’s finger. “You’ve heard, I suppose? That we’ve chosen someone?”

“I assumed,” Kris answered.

Mr. Lee nodded. “So then, what do you think? Of our decision?” He leaned back into the chair, one eyebrow raised.

Kris swallowed. He knew it would be foolish to put forth any opposition. Not that he any, of course. “Excellent, Mr. Lee.”

The principal smiled. “Good. You believe they’re well matched, then?”

“Of course,” Kris said. “Minseok has known Luhan since they were children. There’s no one better matched than them.”

“Wonderful,” Mr. Lee said. “I thought as much.” He let out an exhale, the smile coming back over his face. “They’ll be honored, I know.” He began to stand, motioning for Kris to do the same. As he reached for the door handle the principal cleared his throat, loud enough for Kris to pause.

“Thank you, Kris, for all your hard work. It won’t be forgotten,” Mr. Lee said.

Kris nodded once, stiff, and closed the door behind him.


End file.
